Shiseido Americas is set to slash its workforce due to a decline in its business performance last year.
An internal memo sent by Shiseido Americas Interim CEO Alberto Noé informed staff that the company will be making “wide-ranging and significant” layoffs across its US operations.
Shiseido Americas, a subsidiary of Japanese cosmetics giant Shiseido, has not disclosed how many staff will be affected.
The Japanese conglomerate owns make-up line Nars and skin care brand Drunk Elephant, but also makes fragrances for fashion houses Tory Burch and Narciso Rodriguez.
The internal Shiseido Americas company memo was first leaked on Instagram by anonymous beauty watchdog Estée Laundry on 17 July.
Shiseido has since confirmed the news to Cosmetics Business in a statement which reads: "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."
The internal memo, dated 16 July, stated that Shiseido Americas was “deeply challenged” on multiple fronts.
It read: “This untenable combination of factors has led to a truly difficult decision.
“Today, as we work to secure the viability of our organisation, we undertake a wide-ranging and significant reduction in our workforce.
“These layoffs will impact many employees across multiple businesses, functions and locations.”
Shiseido reported a lacklustre first quarter of trading for 2025, with net sales declining 8.5%.
A “sharp” 65% sales decline from Drunk Elephant dragged down revenue in America and was said to have led to a 19% slump in income for Shiseido’s US market.
The embattled skin care brand had also faced challenges in 2024 too, with sales dropping 25%.
A softening demand in the US and challenges with travel retail in China were also said to have impacted Shiseido’s Q1 2025 performance.
Shiseido’s job cuts are the latest in a string of large company layoffs by beauty giants.
Coty revealed in April that it was set to slash 700 jobs globally in the latest stage of its ‘transformational’ overhaul.
Estée Lauder Companies, meanwhile, announced in February that it would be cutting more than 7,000 jobs as part of a restructuring plan to improve profitability.
Cosmetics Business has reached out to Shiseido Americas for comment.