MUMBAI: Lakme Lever, the beauty-service unit of Hindustan Unilever (HUL), could trim the rolls in its salons, with a focus on social distancing nationwide putting a question mark on the near-term prospects of this line of business.Top officials close to the development told ET that HUL will train a large set of advisors and beauty consultants, numbering about 1,500, to become entrepreneurs so that they can set up their own businesses. To be sure, the majority of 500 such salons across India are franchisee-owned, with Lakme providing them training and product support.A spokesperson at HUL, the country’s biggest consumer goods company, did not comment on staff reorganization plans at Lakme Lever, saying instead that the company is seeking to stabilise the business and resume operations with adequate safeguards.“At present, we have protected the wages of our employees and even supported partners with additional liquidity to protect their teams from sharp drops in pay during the lockdown,” a spokesperson at HUL said. The company has invested in more than 300,000 hours of online education for its 4,000 team members to enhance their skills, in line with the new protocols.While the Lakme brand is worth more than Rs 1,000 crore in revenue, Lakme Lever that runs the salon business clocked sales of Rs 262 crore, indicating that cosmetics products such as eye-liners and lipsticks generate a bulk of its sales instead of beauty services.The current pandemic has affected most discretionary categories but the beauty-services industry could be hit more than some others, with people relying increasingly on do-it-yourself services at home.“The road ahead is challenging and we have to look at reimagining the businesses to stay relevant and competitive. Costs, therefore, are of utmost concern, with an eye on profitability,” said an official, requesting anonymity.Globally, Unilever said it has put in place a hiring freeze and is reevaluating operational costs, capex and restructuring investments.
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