Luxury conglomerate Moet Hennessy announces planned workforce reduction by 10% due to the ongoing luxury sector downturn.
Brewing a New Path: Moet Hennessy to Reduce Workforce Amid Market Challenges
In a squeeze due to plummeting sales and spiraling costs, Moet Hennessy, the wine and spirits division of LVMH, plans to trim its workforce, aiming to return to 2019 levels. With the current staff count at 9,400, this move would mean losing approximately 1,200 employees, according to Jean-Jacques Guiony, the division's CEO.
Guiony and his Deputy, Alexandre Arnault, shared this news with staff last week, citing the organization as being constructed for a much larger scale of business. The restructuring, they explained, is an inevitable measure due to the slow recovery of sales, which hasn’t been mirrored in other sectors of LVMH.
Such job cuts will primarily occur through natural attrition and internal transfers, with no specific timeline provided as of yet. A Moet Hennessy spokesperson confirmed the news, stating, "We aim to gradually return to our 2019 staffing levels, primarily by managing our natural turnover and not filling vacant positions."
The decline in Moet Hennessy's fortunes began in 2022, when the drinks division started to stumble following a period of rapid growth between 2019 and 2022. In the first quarter of 2025, the division's organic sales slumped by 9%, compared to a 3% decline across LVMH as a whole.
Alexandre Arnault, son of LVMH's chief executive and chair, Bernard, addressed the staff, recognizing the unique difficulty of all major LVMH divisions grappling with challenges simultaneously. Arnault stated, "Usually, when wines and spirits are not going well, another sector within LVMH performs well. But right now, things are not going extremely well."
While the restructuring was on the agenda before the current leadership took charge, a hiring freeze has been in place since the second half of 2023, and hundreds of roles were targeted for elimination last year. Approximately 70 out of a target of about 100 people were let go in China in 2024.
Guiony tried to offer a glimmer of hope, acknowledging the tough times but promising light at the end of the tunnel. "Things are bad, but they will improve. This is a cycle," he reminded the staff, referencing the uncertainty caused by U.S. tariffs.
Written by Adrienne Klasa© 2025 The Financial Times
This article originally appeared in The Financial Times.
US tariffs on imported goods have affected the finance of Moet Hennessy, a wine and spirits division of LVMH, leading to the organization's need to restructure their business, including potential US tariffs-induced cost increases. The restructuring includes a reduction of the workforce, with the aim of returning to 2019 levels, which could impact the overall business operations and financial stability.
