Layoffs: Bobbi Brown, MAC Owner, Estée Lauder Announces Job Cuts. Find Out Why

The beauty firm, which also owns several brands such as MAC, Clinique, and Jo Malone, informed last week that these job cuts are almost twice the number of layoffs planned initially.

Estée Lauder said that it plans to layoff up to 7,000 individuals as the company struggles with keeping up the sales. The beauty firm, which also owns several brands such as MAC, Clinique, and Jo Malone, informed last week that these job cuts are almost twice the number of layoffs planned initially.

Explaining the firings, the firm said that US President Donald Trump’s tariff announcements have resulted in uncertainty and caused concern. The company said that it was already planning to restructure the business to manage the weak performance recorded, however, now job losses could reach 7,000, reported BBC.

Estée Lauder noted that it needs to save around $1 billion to manage recession risk and deal with the imposition of tariffs and sanctions. The company owns several iconic consumer beauty brands such as Tom Ford, Bobbi Brown, Aveda, La Mer, Smashbox, and Too Faced, among others. 

The company has a workforce of 62,000 people across the globe and estimated that the final layoff figure would be between 5,800 and 7,000, with some employees redeployed in new roles. However, the firm didn’t disclose which region will bear the impact of the job cuts.

Reason Behind Layoffs 

“We are significantly transforming our operating model to be leaner, faster, and more agile,” noted the company’s chief executive Stéphane de La Faverie. The cosmetics company said that increasing inflation has also resulted in higher costs.

Notably, the firm sources its ingredients from several countries such as Madagascar, Indonesia, Australia, and also has operational or development facilities in the UK, China, Canada, and Switzerland. It sells products to consumers in more than 150 countries and any hike in the tariffs from the US or retaliatory tariffs from other nations are expected to result in increasing the cost for the firm due to more taxes being paid when the products move across borders.

Estée Lauder is not the only firm to caution about the impact of a potential trade war resulting from the fresh tariffs being announced by Donald Trump’s administration. Earlier, beverage maker, Diageo, also warned that tariffs on Mexico and Canada could have a major impact on the company’s business. Notably, the company makes Smirnoff, Baileys,Guinness, and Johnnie Walker.