3 ways FMCG companies can optimize their workforces.
find out how FMCG employers are maximizing internal talent mobility, scaling targeted training and redefining their employee value propositions
As AI transforms the FMCG industry, successful leaders are prioritizing "talent maximization" to build competitive, agile workforces. By actively reskilling internal staff for high-value technical roles, companies can bridge critical skills gaps while empowering their employees. Coupled with enterprise-wide digital training and a modernized employee value proposition that emphasizes flexibility and purpose, organizations can significantly improve retention of their most skilled people. This human-centric approach turns digital transformation into a powerful engine for long-term growth and operational excellence in today’s rapidly evolving manufacturing landscape.
The fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) sector is undergoing a period of rapid change, driving the need to figure out how to adapt. In particular, the sector has collectively seen a decline in revenue of 1.4%, as well as a 6.6% decrease in net income between 2024 and 2025. At the same time, global headcount has decreased over the past few years by 8.3%, according to a Randstad Enterprise talent intelligence analysis of annual reports from major FMCG companies.
In light of these trends, companies in the sector are focused on cost-saving measures and efficiency, while deprioritizing non-manufacturing and administrative roles and centralizing back-office functions. They’re also using AI to automate routine tasks like data entry, HR administration and demand forecasting.
These factors are driving an immense shift throughout the sector, where the market is moving toward “talent maximization” — aggressive automation and robust internal mobility programs to maintain output with a leaner organization. As these trends continue, FMCG companies must adapt their talent strategies accordingly, to ensure they foster agile and sustainable workforces in the midst of ongoing transformation.
understanding the new FMCG reality
To help FMCG companies better understand the challenges facing the sector, and how to identify the best path forward, Randstad Enterprise’s talent intelligence team analyzed data from a wide range of third-party research firms and proprietary industry data. Combined with findings from Randstad’s 2026 Workmonitor research, a global survey of more than 26,000 workers and 1,225 employers, this data highlights the sector’s current obstacles and opportunities while outlining key strategies for a successful and future-proof talent strategy.
First and foremost, the types of roles that are in highest demand have changed, resulting in high competition for talent with the relevant skills. Technically-proficient talent has become particularly difficult to find, as FMCG companies compete with businesses across all sectors to secure such talent. Meanwhile, as supply chains become more automated, frontline workers face steep learning curves to ensure they have the latest skills to remain productive in highly technical environments.
Further complicating matters is that companies may struggle to retain their talent, as a misalignment between employee expectations and the work experience employers deliver can cause disaffected employees to move on to other opportunities.
Workmonitor data shows that 75% of FMCG talent rank work-life balance as an equal priority to pay; simply offering higher salaries isn’t enough to stem attrition.
Instead, it requires more focus on culture and employee values. As AI plays a bigger role in all roles across the sector, companies also face the challenge of apprehension and uncertainty from their teams about this shift.
how to achieve talent optimization in the FMCG sector
As global FMCG companies navigate a shift to strategic internal optimization, traditional talent management strategies are being radically reshaped. To maintain operational output and fund digital growth amid a lean labor market, the following three strategic pillars outline how they can maximize internal talent mobility, scale targeted training across global facilities and redefine the employee value proposition to match evolving worker expectations in an AI-driven environment.
1. internal talent maximization and strategic reskilling
With employers across all sectors seeking a limited pool of specialized, technologically proficient talent, focusing solely on external talent is no longer viable. Instead, forward-thinking companies are actively pivoting toward internal talent maximization to mitigate talent gaps. As advanced automation prompts widespread workforce restructuring, operational focus is rapidly shifting away from generalist administrators toward high-value, digitally fluent problem solvers.
FMCG companies can directly address technological talent deficits by reskilling displaced administrative and generalist staff, whose traditional tasks — like data entry, procurement administration and manual report generation — are being automated.
Moving them to high-demand, high-value technological domains, such as cybersecurity and advanced tech operations, is crucial, especially as demand for localized technical capabilities skyrockets. To make this transition successful on a macro scale, enterprises must democratize career advancement and provide the necessary training and reskilling.
AI-driven talent marketplace platforms can also help companies provide their existing internal workforces with transparent, equitable access to career development and lateral mobility opportunities across business units. This modern approach ensures that internal talent pipelines remain fluid to close skills gaps, while empowering talent in at-risk roles to learn new skills that are vital to the company’s success.
2. scale enterprise-wide digital training partnerships
To fully achieve return on digital investments, FMCG companies should scale enterprise-wide digital training partnerships that extend deep into the frontline. As the types of skills and jobs in the sector evolve, widespread reskilling is necessary to minimize workforce reductions and maximize internal mobility programs.
This shift is highly desired by talent, with Workmonitor showing that 63% of FMCG talent want their organization to increase investment in AI skill development.
Future-proofing global supply chains requires massive e-learning and generative AI training initiatives outside corporate headquarters and directly into manufacturing facilities.
Rolling out such training at production sites ensures that frontline operators become highly proficient with new digital tools, while allowing them to remain productive and agile in heavily automated environments. To be most effective, these digital training programs should be highly targeted, prioritizing specific in-demand operational skills that align with localized regional goals.
Rather than deploying a one-size-fits-all training framework, companies should focus on localized growth trends. For example, upskilling initiatives can target regional growth capabilities, such as AI development in the APAC region, which has experienced an 84.5% surge in market demand, according to data from LinkedIn Talent Insights for consumer services across the Americas, Europe and APAC regions. At the same time, demand for advanced team coordination skills has grown by 54.2% in APAC, while Python programming skills saw a 21% jump in the Americas and a 33.7% increase in APAC.
3. modernize and redefine the employee value proposition
Given the rise in talent scarcity, the ability to attract and retain specialized talent that can run a modern enterprise requires leadership to completely modernize and redefine the core employee value proposition (EVP). To do so, organizations must incorporate true flexibility into their standard talent offerings.
Data from Workmonitor shows that 56% of the global FMCG workforce now identify location flexibility — including remote, hybrid and multi-site work options — as a top career priority. This means integrating flexible work models directly into recruitment structures has become a necessary baseline to successfully attract specialized tech experts.
In addition to offering greater flexibility, companies can foster high-performance cultures through strategic compensation structures. Directly aligning employee compensation with concrete business execution and outcomes drives greater accountability, improves engagement and helps to buffer the operational impacts of organizational resizing.
At the same time, daily job responsibilities must be redefined to center on uniquely human activities. Deloitte’s 2026 Consumer Products Industry Global Outlook found that 76% of industry respondents believe digital transformation is necessary to compete in the FMCG sector; leaders face an urgent mandate to shift human focus away from automated data processing. As virtual assistants and automated workflows assume repetitive administrative burdens, daily responsibilities must be engineered around high-value, digitally fluent problem solving, strategic thinking and innovation.
transforming talent strategies for an agile and sustainable workforce
To be successful in a constantly changing world, FMCG companies must strike the balance between automation and human-centric talent strategies. As the sector turns to talent maximization, success is no longer measured by headcount, but by the agility and digital fluency of the existing team. It’s also important to bridge the gap between AI-driven operational efficiency and a modern purpose-driven EVP, to achieve a significant competitive advantage.
Ultimately, FMCG companies must transform, both culturally and technologically, to compete in today’s landscape. Organizations that commit to empowering their teams with the tools, training and equitable opportunities they need to evolve alongside their roles will benefit from resilient, future-ready teams able to drive their businesses forward.