(Bloomberg) -- About 1,000 Unilever Plc staff will keep their jobs by switching to the consumer goods company’s ice cream unit, a body representing its European workers said.
The company has targeted a headcount reduction of around 3,200 in the region, but a deal with Unilever’s European Works Council will see around 1,500 workers avoid redundancy, the group said Friday. In a separate statement, Unilever said that as well as switching roles to its ice cream division, it would also use a hiring freeze and natural attrition to reduce the number of staff who have the leave the business.
The news was earlier reported by Reuters.
In March Unilever’s new Chief Executive Officer Hein Schumacher said he would spin off or sell the underperforming ice cream unit, which includes brands like Ben & Jerry’s and Magnum, while implementing a cost-cutting program and shedding 7,500 jobs. A spokesperson for Unilever said Friday that it was sticking to the same overall reduction in global headcount in order to find €800 million ($843 million) in savings.
The UEWC had criticized the extent of the job cuts and advocated for the overhaul of the unit to happen within Unilever, rather than via a disposal.
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