Food and drink giant Unilever is to slash more than 3,000 jobs at its European offices by the end of 2025, with employees criticising the company for “zero awareness of how people feel”.

Unilever, who currently employs around 10,000 staff in offices across Europe, revealed in an internal company-wide call that it is due to cut its numbers by a third, or 3,200, reported the Financial Times.

Sources close to the company, whose brand portfolio includes Magnum, Ben & Jerry’s and Marmite,  told the publication that the cuts would apply “primarily to office-based roles” and not include workers in factories and other manufacturing facilities.

While the exact location of the redundancies is yet to be formally announced by the London-listed FMCG giant, it is understood a consultation process will be conducted over the next few weeks for the impacted employees.

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Unilever’s European Works Council chair Hermann Soggeberg said almost all European office locations will be equally affected, especially the corporate centres in London and Rotterdam.

The announcement was met by an immediate backlash from Unilever employees. They used the live comments function to criticise one executive who had suggested workers should put their “energy in serving our customers and consumers”, rather than “wasting it in the anxious thoughts”.

One employee responded: “I am honestly so disappointed if that is the view for employees — how is that acceptable?”. Another said: “Complete failure to read the room and shows zero awareness of how people feel on the ground.”

Unilever’s new announcement follows its revelations earlier this year that it planned to cut 7,500 jobs globally, alongside separating from its ice cream division as it seeks to become a “leaner and more accountable” business.