India’s FMCG sector is selling a complicated workforce story. Hindustan Unilever (HUL) ended FY26 with 706 fewer permanent employees, while Dabur India’s permanent workforce shrank by 573. Yet the same period brought higher median remuneration across major consumer goods companies.
The numbers, reported by Rediff based on company annual report disclosures, show a sector moving in different directions. HUL and Dabur reduced permanent headcount, while Tata Consumer Products and Marico added employees. Nestlé India’s total workforce grew marginally, although its permanent employee count dipped.
One distinction is important. A fall in permanent headcount does not, by itself, confirm layoffs. The disclosures cited in the report show year-on-year changes in employee numbers, but do not establish whether every reduction resulted from layoffs, attrition, retirements, restructuring or other workforce movements.
HUL ends FY26 with 706 fewer permanent employees
HUL’s permanent employee strength fell to 5,898 as of March 31, 2026, from 6,604 a year earlier, according to Rediff’s report on the company’s annual report disclosures. The difference amounts to 706 employees, or roughly 10.7% of the previous year’s permanent workforce.
Pay moved in the opposite direction.
The percentage increase in median employee remuneration stood at 6.08% in FY26, down from 8.39% in FY25. However, the average salary increase for employees other than managerial personnel rose to 6.85%, compared with 4.62% in the previous financial year.
The combination is striking: a smaller permanent workforce, but higher remuneration for employees.
Dabur’s permanent workforce shrinks by 573
Dabur India recorded an even steeper proportional decline.
Its permanent workforce fell from 5,343 employees in FY25 to 4,770 in FY26, a reduction of 573 employees, or about 10.7%.
At the same time, the company reported a 7.7% increase in median remuneration, up from 6% in FY25.
Once again, the data points to a decline in permanent headcount rather than, on its own, proof of a formally announced layoff programme.
The FMCG workforce picture is not one-way
The reductions at HUL and Dabur did not play out uniformly across the sector. The FY26 numbers reported by Rediff show:
- HUL: Permanent employees fell from 6,604 to 5,898, a reduction of 706. Median remuneration increased 6.08%.
- Dabur India: Permanent employees declined from 5,343 to 4,770, a reduction of 573. Median remuneration rose 7.7%.
- Nestlé India: Total employee strength increased from 8,629 to 8,680, while permanent employees slipped from 8,419 to 8,382. Median remuneration increased 7.3%.
- Marico: Permanent headcount, including workmen, rose from 1,908 to 1,983. Median remuneration increased 6.33%, from Rs 13,58,244 to Rs 14,44,177.
- Tata Consumer Products: Permanent employee strength climbed from 4,079 to 4,558, an addition of 479 employees. The company recorded the highest median remuneration increase among the five companies at 12.1%.
Taken together, HUL and Dabur had 1,279 fewer permanent employees at the end of FY26 than a year earlier. But Tata Consumer and Marico moved in the opposite direction, adding 554 permanent employees between them.
The data, therefore, does not support a simple sector-wide story of FMCG companies uniformly cutting jobs.
Automation enters the workforce equation
What could be changing the employment mix?
Rediff reported, citing experts, that FMCG companies are increasingly investing in automation across manufacturing, warehousing, supply chain management and back-office operations.
The sector is also deploying digital tools, AI-driven analytics, automated packaging lines and integrated enterprise resource planning systems. Such technologies can allow businesses to increase production and distribution efficiency with fewer employees in some functions, according to the report.
Still, the available headcount figures do not establish automation as the direct cause of the reductions at HUL or Dabur. They show a broader industry context in which technology investment and workforce structures are evolving simultaneously.
Tata Consumer adds nearly 500 employees
The contrast with Tata Consumer Products Ltd (TCPL) is particularly sharp.
Its permanent workforce increased by 479 employees, from 4,079 in FY25 to 4,558 in FY26. The company also posted the largest median remuneration increase among the five FMCG majors at 12.1%.
The pay increase was still below the 16.9% recorded in FY25. According to the company explanation cited by Rediff, the previous year’s figure was influenced by headcount additions following the merger of NourishCo Beverages, Tata SmartFoodz and Tata Consumer Soulfull into the parent company.
Marico also expanded its permanent workforce, while Nestlé India recorded only a modest decline of 37 permanent employees despite a slight increase in total employee strength.
Higher pay, but very different headcount strategies
Across the five companies, median remuneration increases ranged from 6.08% to 12.1% in FY26.
The broad pattern looks clear on pay. The headcount picture does not.
HUL and Dabur reduced their permanent employee numbers by more than 10% each. Tata Consumer expanded its permanent workforce by nearly 12%. Marico also added employees, while Nestlé India remained broadly stable.
These figures are disclosed under Section 197(12) of the Companies Act, 2013, which requires listed companies to report specified employee remuneration and workforce information in their annual reports.
For employees and employers watching the FMCG sector, the next question will be whether the divergence continues. Will automation and digitalisation translate into leaner permanent workforces across more companies, or will business expansion create new roles elsewhere?
FY26 offers no single answer. It does, however, show a sector where higher employee pay and lower permanent headcount can increasingly exist side by side.