From conglomerates and retail giants to independent brands, the beauty industry is seeing job losses in every corner in 2026.
Whether it is a result of internal restructuring and shake-ups, the knock-on effect of brand closures or simply down to other factors impacting company finances, beauty businesses around the world are cutting costs – and cutting their employees at the same time.
One key impact on employment within beauty has been a changing retail landscape, with Matthew Crook, General Manager at HR software platform PeopleHR Evo, noting: “Most of these cuts are not because beauty is dying, it is more that the department store model is.
“Estée Lauder Companies (ELC) has been pretty open about it as well – the bulk of their losses are counter staff and store roles, and the money is going into TikTok Shop, Sephora and Amazon instead.
“Glossier and Saks are basically dealing with the same problem from different angles.”
Millie Kendall OBE, CEO of the British Beauty Council, adds: “I think very possibly it is a combination of technology and higher employment costs.
“Technology will be impacting these roles, as well as the diversification to online shopping.
“In the UK, we had not made major gains in e-commerce sales until recently.
“Platforms like TikTok Shop have been game changing for online buying, and this impacts retail where we have seen the largest amount of job losses.”
Even for established conglomerates, these new approaches to brand discovery and shopping are putting them on the back burner for Gen Z and other age groups.
Crook notes how “younger shoppers ar
Not yet a Subscriber?
This is a small extract of the full article which is available ONLY to premium content subscribers. Click below to get premium content on Cosmetics Business.
Subscribe now Already a subscriber? Sign in here.