Leading Dutch multinational brewing company Heineken announced it would fire 6,000 employees from its global workforce. The company is also setting lower profit expectations in 2026, compared to the previous years. The job cuts will hit 7% of the entire global staff, which currently stands at 87,000 employees. The majority of the firings are expected to happen in Europe.
The jobs were cut from Heineken, citing a decline in beer sales. The volume of beer fell by 2.4% in 2025, and is slightly less than analysts’ estimates. Beer consumption in the US and Europe is especially declining as the younger population, especially Gen Z, is giving the beverage a miss. The post-pandemic pullback on alcohol consumption is also a cause for the drop in sales.
Also Read: Ripple’s IPO Valuation Nearing $40 Billion: Will This Benefit XRP?
Heineken CEO Was the First in the Line of Firing
The job cuts speculations at Heineken had been brewing for a few months, after the company surprised investors by letting go of the CEO Dolf van den Brink. He will officially step down from the position in May, and finding a successor is “top priority” for the board.
However, the CEO remains confident that Heineken will regain beer sales in the long-term prospects. “We remain prudent in the short-term, and we remain confident in the mid- to long-term that the category will return to growth,” Brink said to Bloomberg.
The job cuts at Heineken will be done over two years as it aims to cut costs. It also forecasts operating profit growth of between 2% to 6% in 2026, compared to 4.4% in 2025, which comes at the lower end of its guided range. The beer-making company is in a transition year as consumption is subsiding in the Western markets. If the trend continues, it could eat into the company’s profits in the coming years.