BAT to cut 5,500 jobs in major global restructuring

British American Tobacco will cut 5,500 jobs and move another 3,500 roles to strategic partners, a restructuring that will affect about 9,000 positions and roughly 20% of its 47,000-strong global workforce. The changes have already started and are due to be completed by the end of 2026.

BAT’s core cigarette business is set for another year of contraction. The company expects the global cigarette industry to decline by about 2.5% in 2026, faster than its earlier estimate of around 2%. That pressure has forced a sharper focus on costs inside a business that still sold 465 billion cigarette sticks last year, alongside 12 billion other tobacco products.

The restructuring will deliver annualised incremental savings of £600 million by 2028, with £500 million targeted by 2027. The overhaul is meant to make the group more agile, cost disciplined and technology enabled as chief executive Tadeu Marroco pushes it toward what he has called a "future-ready" organisation.

The United States, BAT’s biggest market, is excluded from the restructuring, limiting the immediate impact on its most valuable geography. BAT has invested heavily in reduced-risk alternatives, including Vuse vapes, Velo nicotine pouches and heated tobacco products such as glo. The shift has remained uneven. BAT faces competitive and regulatory challenges in its smokeless transition.

The restructuring also follows a deeper technology push. In July 2025, BAT and Accenture announced a partnership to transform the group’s global operations and supply network using data, AI and technology. In May 2026, BAT announced a new Information, Digital and Technology hub in Bengaluru, extending the company’s effort to modernise back-office functions even as it trims headcount elsewhere.