Estée Lauder to cut thousands of jobs warn of customs impact

The beauty company Estée Lauder, owner of Cosmetics Brands Clinique, Mac and Jo Malone, twice the number of jobs than planned and points to uncertainty about US President Donald Trump’s customs as a cause for concern.

The US multinational already restructured the company for tackling its marking performance, but now says that job losses could reach 7,000.

The outlook for businesses shopping globally has become tougher in recent days when Trump launched its promised program for import duties.

However, Customs Objective of Canada and Mexico was suspended at the last minute.

The company, which also owns Bobbi Brown, Aveda and Tom Ford, said it was necessary to save about $ 1 billion. (£ 805 million) as it managed the “risk of recession … including the introduction of customs and sanctions”.

“We significantly transform our operating model to be leaner, faster and more flexible,” said CEO Stéphane de la Faverie.

The company said rising inflation had driven costs.

Estée Lauder employs about 62,000 people around the world and said the final number of job losses would be between 5,800 and 7,000, with some employees redistributed in new roles.

The company did not say where the job would be lost. It employs about 4,400 employees in the UK and Ireland.

The cost -saving measure was revealed, as it also said in its results that it had a loss of $ 590 million. (£ 474 million) in the three months to December when people spent less in China and Korea.

Estée Lauder is the latest company that warns of the influence a tit-for-tattoo war could have on their fortunes.

Drinks Giant, Diageo, who makes Guinness, Johnnie Walker, Baileys and Smirnoff warned on Tuesday that customs on Mexico and Canada – if they move on – “could very well” influence its business.

Diageo’s CEO, Debra Crew, said the company took “a number of actions to mitigate the impact and disturbance of our business that duties can cause”.

Other industries from car manufacturers to avocado -breeders, expected to be significantly affected.

Some other consumer brands are more directly affected by the tariffs.

China has added PVH, the American company, which owns the designer brands Calvin Klein and Tommy Hilfiger, to his “unreliable unit” list and say they had taken “discriminatory measures against Chinese companies”.

It will make it harder for these brands to do business in China. They may be subjected to sanctions, including fines, and have work visas for their foreign employees revoked.