Heineken Cuts Thousands of Jobs Amid Falling Beer Sales

Heineken is cutting a huge portion of its international workforce as demand for the Dutch beer and its peers face precipitously declining demand, perThe Wall Street Journal.

Heineken to Lay Off Nearly 10 Percent of Global Workforce

In addition to lowering its profit predictions for 2026 over 2025, Heineken announced on Wednesday that it’s cutting roughly seven percent of its workforce. That amounts to roughly 6,000 jobs of the brewer’s 87,000-person global workforce. Heineken is still ranked as the No. 2 brewer in the world, but the company was thrown into a tailspin after the shock resignation of CEO Dolf van den Brink in January. At the time, den Brink called his retirement a “logical transition moment.” “It’s the right moment for me to take a personal and professional reset—but surely I will miss this industry,” he said.

Brewery Hopes for Larger Output with Lower Operating Costs

The savings will reportedly come from consolidation and brewery closures, which are currently underway in Europe. Heineken is also trying to merge its smaller markets into larger “clusters” in order to eliminate costs and consolidate operations. “It really touches all levels in the organisation,” finance chief Harold van den Broek said on a media call earlier this week. He added that AI will likely have a significant role in advancing the company’s shared services.

Additionally, the company expects a slower profit growth of between two and six percent for 2026 as opposed to the stronger four to eight percent growth last year. The brewer, which also produces Amstel and Tiger, is reportedly looking to deliver higher growth with lesser output, as senior investors have become dissatisfied with what they see as inefficient production, and will relieve between 5,000 and 6,000 of its employees over the next 24 months. Heineken believes that the “productivity drive” will save the company millions of dollars over the next few years. "We really do this to strengthen our operations and to be able to invest in growth," den Broek said.