Estee Lauder to cut up to 1,200 jobs

Estee Lauder is planning to make between 900 and 1,200 job cuts worldwide as part of restructuring measures, which would be undertaken over the next five years.

Equivalent to 2.5% of the total global workforce of Estee Lauder, the job cuts will likely save $200m to $300m per annum.

The US company also intends to retrain and redeploy some of its employees, invest in new products, and digital sales, as well as social media.

Estee Lauder chief executive Fabrizio Freda was quoted by Rappler as saying: "Reallocating resources to new capabilities and higher-growth areas, and lowering our cost base will regrettably include selective workforce reductions in certain areas of the company.

"We will make difficult decisions about affected employees with sensitivity, consistent with the values of our company and will make a concerted effort to retrain and redeploy employees wherever possible."

The restructuring plan of Estee Lauder is expected to cost $600m to $700m to the cosmetics company in one-time charges.

Estee Lauder previously announced that it was overhauling its global technology infrastructure, thereby shifting altogether to a primarily vendor-owned model.

The company reported a net income of $265.6m for the third quarter of the year ending 31 March, which is a 2.4% drop from the $272.1m reported in the same period a year ago.