PEOPLE & CULTURE PULSE · ISSUE 7 · JULY 2026
A monthly benchmark for People & Culture teams: the talking points that matter and how your culture compares, built on Deltabase data covering 5,500+ companies and 11M employee reviews.
Editor's note
July is our half-year review, and Consumer Goods offers a clear contrast between commercial results and employee sentiment. Unilever and Nestlé both reported progress on growth and savings, while the UK jobs market stayed broadly flat. Yet seven of the ten largest Consumer Goods employers we track saw culture scores fall in 2025. For People teams, the second half is the time to find out why before turnover does it for you.
Leroy Hall, Deltabase
The month in three
1. Unilever's volumes accelerate
What happened: On 28 July, Unilever reported first-half underlying sales growth of 4.8%, accelerating to 5.8% in the second quarter, with volume growth of 4.2%. Its €800m productivity programme finished ahead of schedule, and it is combining its Foods business with McCormick, with completion expected by mid-2027 at the latest.
The Deltabase lens: Employee sentiment has not kept pace. Unilever's Employee NSS eased from +6.7% in 2024 to +4.9% in 2025, with Career Progression down 10.7 pts to −60.0% and Learning & Development down 13.1 pts to +65.9%.
So what: After a productivity programme, commercial momentum and employee experience can move apart. With a separation ahead, career clarity matters even more.
2. Nestlé's savings programme builds
What happened: Nestlé's half-year results on 23 July showed organic growth of 3.6% and real internal growth of 1.5%. Its "Fuel for Growth" programme has delivered CHF 1.7bn of cumulative savings, including CHF 0.6bn in the first half, against a target of CHF 3.0bn by the end of 2027.
The Deltabase lens: Nestlé's culture held steady through 2025, at +7.1% in 2024 and +7.2% in 2025, based on more than 1,800 reviews in the latest year.
So what: Holding sentiment steady during a cost drive is possible. The test is whether it holds as savings deepen through 2027.
3. UK payrolls stay flat
What happened: ONS figures summarised on 30 July put unemployment at 4.9% for March to May 2026. Payrolled employees rose by 3,000 in May but were down 85,000 on the year, vacancies fell 7,000 to 712,000, and regular pay growth was 3.4%.
The Deltabase lens: Consumer Goods sentiment softened across the board. The median Employee NSS for ten Top 100 companies fell from +9.3% in 2024 to +8.2% in 2025, and only Coca-Cola, Reckitt and Nestlé improved.
So what: A flat market keeps turnover low for now. When vacancies pick up, staff with weak career prospects are usually the first to move.
Stat of the month
7 of 10: Consumer Goods Top 100 companies whose Employee NSS fell in 2025, taking the sector median from +9.3% to +8.2%.
| Company | 2024 | 2025 | Change |
|---|
| Kimberly-Clark | +14.9% | +13.4% | −1.5 pts |
| Coca-Cola | +10.4% | +11.6% | +1.2 pts |
| Procter & Gamble | +12.5% | +11.1% | −1.4 pts |
| Nestlé | +7.1% | +7.2% | +0.1 pts |
| Unilever | +6.7% | +4.9% | −1.8 pts |
| Diageo | −3.0% | −6.6% | −3.6 pts |
Source: Deltabase Culture data, Employee Net Sentiment Score (−100% to +100%), 2024–2025. Sector median across Coca-Cola, Colgate-Palmolive, Diageo, Kimberly-Clark, Mondelez, Nestlé, PepsiCo, Procter & Gamble, Reckitt and Unilever.
Spotlight: Unilever vs Procter & Gamble
Procter & Gamble leads Unilever on overall sentiment, at +11.1% against +4.9% in 2025, though both slipped. The detail differs. P&G improved Career Progression by 6.7 pts to −22.5% and holds a strong Empowered score of +25.3%. Unilever's Career Progression fell 10.7 pts to −60.0% and Agility & Bureaucracy fell 14.9 pts to −60.0%, while Learning & Development dropped but remains high at +65.9%. Work-Life Balance is the one area where Unilever leads, at −25.1% against −50.6% for P&G.
For your People team
- After a productivity programme, check Career Progression and Agility & Bureaucracy; they tend to absorb the strain first.
- Use the half-year review to compare your turnover hot spots with peer culture scores, topic by topic.
- Before any business separation, map career paths for affected teams and communicate them early.
See how your culture compares. Book a 30-minute culture benchmark walkthrough against your peer set. Book a walkthrough →
Sources: Unilever (28 July 2026); Nestlé (23 July 2026); Stafforce summary of ONS labour market statistics (30 July 2026); Deltabase Culture data.