Dulux maker Akzo Nobel plans to cut 2,000 jobs globally
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Dulux paint maker Akzo Nobel plans to cut about 2,000 jobs globally, more than 5% of its workforce, as part of its efforts to reduce costs, targeting positions in its head offices, the Dutch company said on Tuesday.
"We will be simplifying our structure, our processes, reducing cost of administrative functions," Akzo Nobel's senior spokesperson told Reuters, with positions in finance or global business services at the head offices to be affected.
Akzo Nobel, which had around 35,700 employees as of June 30, said the job cuts would be finalised by the end of 2025.
The Amsterdam-listed group late last year announced a cost-saving "industrial transformation" plan, aiming for a €250m benefit by 2027, following a post-covid slowdown marked by rising raw material costs and customer destocking in its decorative do-it-yourself segment in Europe.
Related to this, it announced plant closures in May in Ireland, the Netherlands and Zambia.
In May, the company confirmed it would shut its paint manufacturing business on Cork’s Commons Road by the end of this year with the loss of 45 jobs and ending a 140-year history of manufacturing on the site.
It said the only operation to cease in Ireland would be paint production with the company planning further investment in its non-manufacturing operations in Dublin. Sales, marketing, warehousing and logistics as well as AkzoNobel’s Dublin location are not impacted. The company will also expand warehouse capacity in Dublin to supply the Irish market.
The Akzo Nobel shares have dropped around 21% so far this year, mirroring an industry-wide slump, with rivals PPG and Nippon Paint down 14.9% and 20.9% respectively.
American paint maker Sherwin-Williams, which raised its full-year earnings forecast in July supported by higher pricing and increased sales, has meanwhile gained more than 22% year-to-date, an outlier in an otherwise sluggish environment. Akzo did not have a specific estimate on how much costs would be saved with the job cuts, the spokesperson said, adding that part-time positions could also be affected.