Job losses as Novozymes makes organizational changes to deliver strategy
The biological solutions company said it hopes the strategy, announced on June 16, will drive higher sales and earnings growth over from 2020 to 2022, and beyond.
Changes will free up resources for reinvestments where they have higher impact. This also means that between 280 and 330 employees will be laid off globally, of which 123 are in Denmark. Layoffs will happen across divisions, functions and regions and in accordance with local processes and requirements.
In addition, some employees will be transferred to new roles inside the company.
Peder Holk Nielsen, CEO at Novozymes, said, “Better business with biology allows us to drive more value from the existing business and free up additional resources to invest in new strategic opportunities. We will also invest more in commercial activities and innovation, especially in the emerging markets.
“To achieve this, it regrettably means that we need to lay off employees across the organization.”
Novozymes said while its financial performance is solid, the business has faced headwinds.
Better business with biology sets the future strategic direction of the company. The outcome of the strategy has shown DKK 200-300m ($29.7m-$44.6m) can be freed up from existing portfolios, from simplification and from efficiency improvements. This allows for reinvestments in the company and supports Novozymes’ long-term growth.
“We will focus our R&D efforts on fewer projects with higher impact. At the same time, we explore new strategic opportunities where we continue to meet increasing customer needs and solve global challenges, such as clean water, human health and food availability,” Nielsen said.
As announced on June 16 in the strategy update, the restructuring and related charges are included in the full year financial outlook.
