6,000 Jobs Cut... "Who Even Drinks It Now?" A Market Shunned by Generation Z

As the trend of reducing alcohol consumption strengthens across society, Heineken, the world's second-largest brewer, plans to cut up to 6,000 jobs.

Sixty-five percent of Gen Z said they are actively trying to reduce their alcohol consumption. This is a higher proportion than Millennials (57%), Gen X (49%), and Baby Boomers (39%). Getty Images

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According to Yonhap News Agency, on the 11th (local time) Heineken announced, "To respond to a challenging market environment and to cut costs, we have decided to reduce 5,000 to 6,000 jobs over the next two years." Heineken has about 87,000 employees worldwide, including 3,700 in the Netherlands.

Chief Executive Officer Dolf van den Brink said, "Most of the job cuts will take place outside the Netherlands," adding, "Europe is a large part of our business, but as you can see from our financial results, it is very difficult to secure good operating leverage there." Heineken, the world's second-largest beer company after AB InBev, saw its global beer sales volume fall by 2.4% last year. The decline was particularly steep in Europe and the Americas, where sales dropped by 4.1% and 3.5%, respectively.

Heineken, the world's second-largest brewer, plans to cut up to 6,000 jobs, Reuters and Yonhap reported.

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AFP reported, "Recently, a growing emphasis on health across society, combined with efforts to cut household spending amid surging living costs, has led to a clear decline in alcohol consumption, including beer, across all regions," noting that "as of the fourth quarter of last year, global beer sales volume retreated by 2.8%."

As the "sober life" ethos ? aiming to remain sober ? spreads among young people, global beer sales are declining. Photo by Getty Images

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This trend is being reinforced in particular by the spread of values among young people that aspire to a "sober life" - staying free from intoxication. According to a Gallup poll conducted in August last year, a majority (53%) of Americans now believe that even one or two drinks a day are harmful to health. The share of respondents who said they "currently drink alcohol" plunged to an all-time low of 54%, with abstinence especially pronounced among those aged 18 to 34. The proportion of people in this age group who said they "drink alcohol" fell from 59% in 2023 to 50% last year.

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According to global market research firm NC Solutions, 65% of Gen Z respondents said they are actively trying to reduce their alcohol consumption. This is a higher proportion than among Millennials (57%), Gen X (49%), and Baby Boomers (39%).

As a result, the alcoholic beverage industry is taking a direct hit. Lawrence Wyatt, an analyst at Barclays, told Bloomberg News, "The impact of declining alcohol consumption on the alcoholic beverage industry is four times greater than during past financial crises," diagnosing that "because this is a structural change, it will be difficult to regain the growth rates of the past."

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