Faarea Masud
BBC Business reporter
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Beauty firm Estée Lauder, owner of cosmetics brands Clinique, MAC, and Jo Malone, is shedding twice the number of jobs than planned, pointing to uncertainty around US President Donald Trump’s tariffs as cause for concern.
The US multi-national was already restructuring the business to tackle its flagging performance, but now says job losses could reach 7,000.
The outlook for firms that trade globally has got tougher in recent days as Trump launched his promised programme of import taxes, including additional tariffs on China.
However, tariffs targeting Canada and Mexico were suspended at the last minute, for 30 days.
The company , which also owns Bobbi Brown, Aveda and Tom Ford, said it needed to save around $1bn (£805m) as it managed “the risk of recession… including the imposition of tariffs and sanctions”.
“We are significantly transforming our operating model to be leaner, faster, and more agile,” said chief executive Stéphane de La Faverie.
The firm said rising inflation had driven up costs.
Estee Lauder sources its ingredients from various countries, including Australia, Madagascar and Indonesia, and has operational or development facilities in countries including the UK, Canada, Switzerland and China.
As it sells its products in over 150 countries, any ratcheting up of Trump’s tariffs and any retaliation could result in extra taxes when goods cross the borders.
Estée Lauder employs around 62,000 people worldwide, and said the final figure of jobs losses would be between 5,800 and 7,000, with some staff redeployed in new roles.
The company did not say where the jobs would be lost. It employs around 4,400 staff in the UK and Ireland.
The cosmetics giant reported a $650m (£518m) pre-tax loss for the three months to 31 December as people spent less in China and Korea and at airports in Asia.
That compares to a profit $519m in the same period the year before. Total sales fell by 6% to $4bn.
Estée Lauder is the latest company to warn of the impact a tit-for-tat tariff war could have on their fortunes.
Drinks giant, Diageo, which makes Guinness, Johnnie Walker, Baileys and Smirnoff warned on Tuesday that tariffs on Mexico and Canada – if they go ahead – “could very well” impact its business.
Diageo’s chief executive, Debra Crew, said the business was taking “a number of actions to mitigate the impact and disruption to our business that tariffs may cause”.
Other industries from car makers to avocado growers, are expected to be significantly affected.
Some other consumer brands are more directly affected by the tariffs.
China has added PVH, the American company that owns designer brands Calvin Klein and Tommy Hilfiger, to its “unreliable entity” list, saying they had taken “discriminatory measures against Chinese enterprises”.
That will make it harder for those brands to do business in China. They may face sanctions, including fines, and have the work visas of their foreign employees revoked.
