Shiseido, one of Japan’s leading cosmetics companies, has announced a large-scale workforce reduction at its U.S. subsidiary, Shiseido Americas. The decision comes amid a sharp deterioration in business performance throughout 2024, with little sign of recovery expected in 2025, prompting a significant restructuring of the company’s operations.
The move came to light after an internal company memo was leaked via the anonymous Instagram account @esteelaundry. In the memo, Alberto Noé, Interim CEO of Shiseido Americas, addressed the company’s current challenges:
“Shiseido Americas finds itself deeply challenged on multiple fronts. Despite our best efforts and hard work, business performance has declined significantly through 2024, and the 2025 outlook remains bleak.”
In response to inquiries from Business of Fashion (BoF), Shiseido issued an official statement regarding the layoffs:
“Shiseido Americas has undertaken a business transformation to return to growth and profitability. As part of this process, we have made the difficult decision to eliminate certain roles within the company and a number of our employees have been adversely impacted. We are grateful to our departing colleagues for their contributions to Shiseido Americas and we will provide these employees with transition support.”
While the number of affected employees has not been disclosed, Shiseido Americas employs approximately 2,000 people across the U.S., with its headquarters in New York City and additional locations in Ohio, Texas, Florida, and Canada.
The downturn in business is largely attributed to the underperformance of the company’s flagship skincare brand, Drunk Elephant. In the first quarter of 2025, Drunk Elephant saw sales decline by more than 60%, dragging down Shiseido’s overall revenue in the Americas by 19% year-on-year. In addition to weakened consumer demand in the U.S., the company has been impacted by sluggish travel retail sales in China, ongoing inflation, and broader economic uncertainty.
Noé, who has also served as Head of the EMEA (Europe, Middle East, and Africa) region, assumed the role of Interim CEO for the Americas in April 2024 following the departure of his predecessor, Ron Gee.
Shiseido’s layoffs are part of a wider wave of restructuring sweeping through the beauty industry. In 2024, Estée Lauder Companies announced plans to cut approximately 7,000 jobs globally. In April 2025, Coty Inc. implemented workforce reductions affecting around 700 employees. Meanwhile, Unilever disclosed that it had already eliminated around 6,000 positions as part of a broader plan to cut 7,500 jobs worldwide.
More recently, reports surfaced suggesting that L’Oréal may be considering a consolidation of its Hong Kong and mainland China offices, potentially affecting around 200 employees, further evidence of accelerating restructuring across the global beauty sector.
Against this backdrop, Shiseido’s workforce reduction highlights the increasingly difficult business environment the company faces and underscores a pivotal moment of transformation in the global beauty industry.
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