L'Oréal's duty-free sales division plans to lay off employees as the weight of its travel retail business declines

Journalists have learned from multiple markets and insiders at L'Oréal that L'Oréal's China travel retail department plans to lay off employees. Two individuals confirmed that the layoff ratio could be as high as 50%. The layoffs are mainly due to the poor performance of domestic travel retail channels in the past two years. One person close to L'Oréal's headquarters stated that the layoffs have not yet begun. Another person close to L'Oréal indicated that some of the laid-off employees will be offered n+5 salary compensation. L'Oréal's travel retail department is primarily responsible for selling products in city duty-free shops, airport duty-free shops, and Hainan offshore duty-free shops, among other travel scenarios. According to information on L'Oréal's official website, airports are key sales points, accounting for more than 50% of total travel retail sales. L'Oréal's chairman of the board and former CEO Jean-Paul Agon disclosed at the company's 2019 financial report meeting that travel retail accounted for about 9% of global sales, but thereafter the official disclosure of the department's performance has been rare