dutch brewer Heineken After beer sales slumped last year, the company planned to lay off up to 7% of its workforce, hoping to improve efficiency through artificial intelligence savings.

Report from the world’s second largest brewer Dismal earnings On Wednesday, total beer volume fell 2.4% in 2025, while adjusted operating profit increased 4.4%.

The company also said it plans to cut 5,000 to 6,000 jobs over the next two years and plans to grow operating profit by 2% to 6% this year. Heineken shares last rose 3.4% and are up nearly 7% so far this year.

Outgoing CEO Dolf van den Brink told CNBC’s “Squawk Box Europe” on Wednesday that the results were due to “challenging market conditions” but that the overall performance was balanced.

Heineken’s outlook for 2026 is below usual range but “in line with buy-side expectations and in line with peers” Carlsbergand cautious given the new incoming,” UBS analysts said in a note on Wednesday.

Regarding the cuts, van den Brink said: “Productivity has always been a top priority in our evergreen strategy… We have committed to annual savings of 400 to 500 million euros ($476 million to $600 million) and this is the first implementation of this debt commitment.”

He said the job cuts would help the brewer invest in growth and premium brands.

Vandenbrink acknowledged that part of the reason for the layoffs is “artificial intelligence, or digitalization.”

He said: “This is a very important part of our EverGreen 2030 strategy, with around 3,000 jobs being transferred to our business services area, where the digitalization of technology, particularly artificial intelligence, will be a significant part of the ongoing productivity savings.”

The EverGreen 2030 strategy focuses on three core areas, including accelerating growth, improving productivity and adapting for the future.

Headquartered in the Netherlands, the company has 87,000 employees and operates in more than 70 countries.

van den brinkBecause of stepping down He resigned from the leadership role in May after six years at the helm. Heineken is currently looking for a successor.

Companies mentioning AI when cutting jobs in 2025 include AmazonLast year it announced 15,000 layoffs. to SalesforceCEO Marc Benioff said he was laying off 4,000 customer support staff because AI was said to be responsible for 50% of the company’s work.

Some European companies citing AI in restructuring strategies are aviation groups Lufthansa and technology consulting firms Accenture.

Kristalina Georgieva, managing director of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), told CNBC at the World Economic Forum in January that artificial intelligence is “hitting the labor market like a tsunami” and warned that “most countries and most businesses are not prepared for this.”

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Correction: This article has been updated to correct the U.S. dollar conversion of Heineken Plan annual savings.