Unilever to cut 1,500 management jobs in overhaul

Unilever unveiled plans on Tuesday to cut about 1,500 management jobs in an overhaul aimed at easing shareholders' concerns after a failed takeover bid and news that an activist investor had built a stake in the consumer goods giant.

The maker of Dove soap and Magnum ice-cream, which employs about 149,000 people worldwide, said on Tuesday it would organise its business into five new divisions: beauty and wellbeing; personal care; home care; nutrition; and ice-cream.

"Our new organisational model has been developed over the last year... Moving to five category-focused business groups will enable us to be more responsive to consumer and channel trends, with crystal-clear accountability for delivery," chief executive Alan Jope said.

Unilever, whose shares have fallen about 13 per cent over the past year, last week effectively abandoned plans to buy GlaxoSmithKline’s consumer healthcare business for £50 billion ($67 billion).

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The announcement also comes days after reports that activist investor Nelson Peltz’s Trian Partners had been building a stake in the world’s second-biggest personal care products maker. – Reuters