A Heineken brewery production line, São Paulo, Brazil, June 12, 2018. PAULO WHITAKER/REUTERS
Between 5,000 and 6,000 jobs out of Heineken's 87,000 positions are set to be cut, according to an announcement on February 11 by the Dutch group, the world's second-largest beer producer. The plan is to make "significant savings" due to "challenging market conditions," thereby shaking the whole industry. The sector generates more than $880 billion (€750 billion) in global revenue, with 33% of that in Europe, where around 11,000 breweries employ 2.6 million people. In France, the brewing sector recorded €15 billion in revenue and had 130,500 employees in 2024.
To justify the staff cuts, Heineken's leadership pointed to falling demand for their products (down 4.1% in Europe and down 3.5% in the United States in 2025, a continuous decline since 2019). The company said that consumption is dropping while costs and constraints are rising. Although demand has indeed decreased in Europe – as shown by the ongoing drop in production (38.7 billion liters produced in 2024, compared to 41.3 billion in 2019) – it is expected to keep growing globally, especially in China, India, Brazil and Australia. According to forecasts by the US website Fortune Business Insights, the global market's revenue could reach $1.276 trillion (about €1.082 trillion) by 2034.
