Coty Poised to Cut Three-Quarters of Its French Workforce

Coty plans to eliminate 155 of the roughly 200 jobs at its French operations, according to union sources cited by AFP and reported by FashionNetwork. That ratio, more than three-quarters of the country's headcount, dwarfs the 5 percent cut the company applied globally last year.

A Coty spokesperson confirmed the company has proposed to "adapt its operating model in France" following a business review. The plan covers a restructuring of the Consumer Beauty unit and a separate review of how the Prestige division operates in the country. The company did not confirm the headcount figures reported by the unions.

The CGT union told reporters the job-protection plan, known in France as a PSE, was unveiled on a Friday and presented to employees "in a matter of minutes" the following Tuesday morning. Any redundancy plan of this scale must still pass through France's works-council consultation process and a legally defined economic-motive justification before it can take effect, a process that can stretch over months and invite challenge from labor representatives.

Coty France SAS is headquartered at 14, rue du Quatre Septembre in Paris, home to commercial and head-office functions. The company's main production site in the country is Chartres, a perfumery plant that turns out about 65 million units a year and has separately been running its own line-digitalization program. It remains unclear whether the 155 cuts touch Chartres or concentrate in Paris-based commercial and support roles.

The French move follows an April 2025 announcement that Coty would cut 700 jobs worldwide, about 5 percent of its workforce, under a program called "All-in to Win," targeting $130 million in annual fixed-cost savings. In July, the company rolled out a leadership overhaul it calls Coty.Curated: interim CEO Markus Strobel took direct control of Prestige commercial operations, and Prestige R&D, sustainability and supply chain were merged under interim executive Graeme Carter. Soraya Benchikh, formerly of British American Tobacco, became chief financial officer on September 1.

The restructuring lands against a weak financial backdrop. Coty posted a net loss of $618 million for the fiscal year ended in late June 2026, compared with a $381 million loss the year before, and management has described fiscal 2027 as a transition year.

The France-specific severity of the cuts also comes as Coty loses one of its marquee Prestige licenses. In July, the company agreed to exit the Gucci Beauty license early, ending the arrangement on June 30, 2027 instead of 2028, as part of a deal tied to the Kering-L'Oreal alliance announced in October 2025. Kering is paying Coty about $400 million for the early handover. The loss of a license that size, concentrated in the Prestige business the French review is also targeting, points to where the cuts are likely to fall hardest once the works-council process runs its course.