Diageo Cuts Nearly 2,000 Jobs Amid Restructuring, Reuters Reports

Diageo, the world’s largest spirits maker, has shed nearly 2,000 jobs as new chief executive Dave Lewis pushes ahead with a sweeping cost-cutting overhaul, according to a Reuters report.

Citing the company’s annual report, Reuters said Diageo’s total headcount fell more than 6% year-on-year by the end of June. The Guinness owner reported an average of 27,938 full-time equivalent employees for fiscal 2026, excluding staff at associates and joint ventures, down from 29,860 the previous year.

Most of the reductions across its regional markets are expected to be completed by September 1, meaning the final number of affected staff could climb even higher, Reuters noted.

Diageo declined to comment when approached by Reuters for further details on the job cuts.

Lewis, who has earned the nickname “Drastic Dave” for his cost-cutting record at Tesco and Unilever, has led Diageo since January. He has said the headcount reductions are concentrated in global back-office functions and areas of “massive duplication.”

The cuts form part of a $1 billion savings plan, under which Diageo also intends to lower prices on some brands while expanding in faster-growing categories such as Guinness and canned cocktails. Reuters reported in July that some Diageo teams were cutting 20% to 30% of their staff amid deep overhead reductions.

Diageo’s London-listed shares (DGE.L) were trading at around 1,688 pence, down about 0.9% on the day, following the news, reflecting continued investor caution over the company’s turnaround efforts after a period of weak profit growth.