Dulux maker AkzoNobel to cut 2,000 jobs

The paint giant behind Dulux is to cut about 2,000 jobs in a bid to slash costs.

AkzoNobel announced on Tuesday that it plans to complete a raft of redundancies by the end of 2025 to make its operations more efficient.

The Dutch group, which has operations in 150 countries including the UK, said it will “streamline” its management structure through the cuts.

The move will impact more than 5% of its 35,700 global employees.

AkzoNobel has around 3,500 employees in the UK and Ireland across 15 sites, including nine factories. The firm has not disclosed how many UK staff will be impacted.

The group’s cost-cutting efforts come amid a backdrop of continued inflation in the building materials industry and higher wages.

Nevertheless, the group recently reported that pre-tax profits rose by over a quarter in the first half of the year to 496 million euros (£413 million) due to tight control over its cost base.

Greg Poux-Guillaume, chief executive of AkzoNobel, said: “Over the last three quarters, we have demonstrated our ability to grow.

“We aim to accelerate profitable growth by optimising our functional organisation to become more agile in volatile markets and offset headwinds such as rising labour cost.”