The Dutch paint company AkzoNobel is set to cut 2,000 jobs globally in a move to reduce costs and enhance efficiency, it stated in a press release on Tuesday. It is unknown which locations will be impacted.
The company, active in over 150 countries, said the decision aims to simplify operations and streamline the company's management structure.
"We aim to accelerate profitable growth by optimizing our functional organization to become more agile in volatile markets and offset headwinds such as rising labour cost," explained AkzoNobel CEO Greg Poux-Guillaume in the press release.
AkzoNobel employs around 35,000 people worldwide, according to the latest figures from December 2023. In Belgium, around 390 people work for the company in their two main locations in the Flemish Brabant.
It is currently unclear if jobs in Belgium will be impacted. "We are optimising our organisational set-up globally. At this moment we can only refer to the total number of full-time employees," AkzoNobel's Benelux communications manager, Dominique Groenendijk-Stevens, told the Brussels Times.
According to Groenendijk-Stevens, generally speaking, "all functions are in scope" and the company will engage with the "Works Council and or labour unions to discuss the impact on affected employees" once there is "more clarity".
The company plans to complete its structural adjustments by the end of 2025.
