Estee Lauder Plans Drastic Job Cuts

by Deidre Woollard (RSS feed)
Feb 6th 2009 at 8:02PM

The cosmetics and skincare industry is supposed to be one of the safe spots in a down economy but that doesn't seem to be true any longer. Estee Lauder recently announced a four-year turnaround plan that will result in a six percent reduction in its work force and a freeze on merit pay increases. A total of 2,000 jobs will be cut over the next two years and a hiring freeze is in place. The news comes as Estee Lauder reported a fourth quarter net income that fell 30% to $158 million, or 80 cents a share, from $224.4 million, or $1.14 a share, a year earlier. During the most recent quarter ending December 31, sales of Estee Lauder's makeup brands, which also include Clinique and MAC fell 12 percent while sales of skin-care products fell 7.1 percent.

Pictured above are Hilary Rhoda, Gwyneth Paltrow, Elizabeth Hurley and Carolyn Murphy at the worldwide debut of the new Estee Lauder fragrance 'Sensuous' at Bloomingdale's in New York City last summer.

Tags: cosmetics, estee lauder, EsteeLauder, skincare