Aligned with the updated strategy, the changes will make resources available to investment in new growth opportunities, industries and markets.
Novozymes announced organizational changes to drive stronger growth and deliver on its updated corporate strategy, Better business with biology. The strategy, as announced on June 16, will drive higher sales and earnings growth over the three-year period 2020-2022, and beyond.
Changes will free up resources which will be made available for reinvestments where they have higher impact. This also means that 280 – 330 employees will be laid off globally, of which 123 are in Denmark. Layoffs will happen across divisions, functions and regions and in accordance with local processes and requirements. In addition, a number of employees will be transferred to new roles inside the company.
“Better business with biology allows us to drive more value from the existing business and free up additional resources to invest in new strategic opportunities. We will also invest more in commercial activities and innovation, especially in the emerging markets,” says Peder Holk Nielsen, CEO at Novozymes. “To achieve this, it regrettably means that we need to lay off employees across the organization.”
Focus and investments
Novozymes is the world leader in biological solutions and its financial performance is solid, but the business has faced headwinds.
Better business with biology sets the future strategic direction of the company. The outcome of the strategy has shown that DKK 200-300 million can be freed up from existing portfolios, from simplification and from efficiency improvements. This allows for significant reinvestments in the company and it supports Novozymes’ long-term growth potential.
“We will focus our R&D efforts on fewer projects with higher impact. At the same time, we explore new strategic opportunities where we continue to meet increasing customer needs and solve global challenges, such as clean water, human health and food availability,” says Peder Holk Nielsen.
“The changes we announce today are not easy and we will do our best to support colleagues who have been laid off,” Peder Holk Nielsen concludes.
As announced on June 16 in the strategy update, the restructuring and related charges are included in the full year financial outlook.