ISTANBUL

Swiss food conglomerate Nestle announced Thursday that it plans to slash 16,000 jobs in the next two years as part of efforts to cut costs.

To increase operational efficiency, the company said in a statement, it will eliminate 12,000 white-collar jobs and 4,000 more positions over the said period.

The layoff plan is expected to drive a 1 billion Swiss francs ($1.25 billion) annual savings for the company until the end of 2027.

Nestle had already launched a cost-cutting initiative of $3.17 billion under its previous CEO, Laurent Freixe. By the end of 2027, this has now been expedited to $3.76 billion.