What It Does: Unilever produces and markets condiments, ice creams, soft drinks, pet foods, toothpaste, energy drinks, food, beauty products, instant coffee, soap, personal care products, cleaning agents, pharmaceutical products, etc.
Mission: Unilever’s mission statement is to create a better future every day, make people look good, feel good, and get the best of life through products that are good for them and the world.
Size and Presence: Unilever employs more than 580 workers in Canada. Its office is in Toronto.
Best Known For: Unilever is best known as the largest soap maker in the world. It’s one of the biggest conglomerates in the world.
The Good Bits: Unilever offers numerous employment incentives to its workers. The company’s management is easy to work with. There are good career prospects for freshers and interns at the firm.
The Not-So-Good Bits: The work comes with stress because there are targets to meet. The pay can be better.
Unilever came into existence thanks to a merger between Margaret Unie and Lever Brothers. In the following decade, the company started expanding internationally and opened new ventures in Africa, and South & Central America. During that period, Unilever acquired the United African Company. During the Second World War, the company acquired new operations in the U.K. and the U.S. In 1943, it purchased T.J. Lipton. The following year, it divested into toothpaste manufacturing when it purchased Pepsodent. In 1957, it acquired Frosted Foods. In 1971, Unilever purchased Lipton Ltd from Allied Suppliers.
22 years later, the company acquired Breyers from Kraft, this move made the company one of the biggest ice cream manufacturers in the world. At the turn of the 21st century, the company acquired Maille. 7 years later, the firm entered into a partnership agreement with Rainforest Alliance in order to get raw materials for its tea in a sustainable manner. In 2015, the firm acquired REN Skincare, a personal care product brand. In 2016, Unilever acquired a hair care product business, Living Proof Inc.
In 2021, the company ventured into cosmetics by establishing Elida Beauty. In late 2021, Unilever sold off a major part of its tea operations to CVC Company. The deal was finalised in 2022.
The company has a unique working culture that draws strength from its four core values namely Integrity, Pioneering, Responsibility, and Respect. The company has an ideal working atmosphere where employees are on cordial terms with each other. They extend this warmth to new intakes and make them feel at home. The company has a strong support system that helps fresh graduates adapt to life at the organisation.
Unilever has an inclusion and diversity policy that ensures the company’s workforce reflects the diversity of its host community. There’s no preferential treatment on the basis of gender, sexuality, socioeconomic background, political affiliations, religion, and ethnicity. The company has a laid-back vibe and its dress code is smart casual.
Unilever has good career advancement prospects for early career starters. Its future leaders' programme is a 36-month programme designed to train its participants in the various operational areas of the organisation. There are on-the-job training and mentoring opportunities to guide their professional development into capable and competent employees.
The programme also equips these freshers with essential leadership skills that will make them agents of change in the industry in the near future. After several job placements and formal training experience, these prospects will be ready for life at Unilever.
Unilever’s hiring process is brief and can be concluded in a couple of weeks. The firm reviews its applications and conducts a profile assessment to screen out some applicants. The next stage is a virtual interview and the recruiting process is concluded with the virtual discovery centre where the applicants are exposed to project meetings, team meetings, and a one-on-one meeting with the line manager.
An entry-level employee working at Unilever Canada earns an average salary of CA$ 45,000 yearly.
The company provides some attractive incentives for its employees including learning and mentoring opportunities, gym memberships, and mental health wellness programs. Employees that want to change location benefit from the company’s relocation assistance programme. Finally, employees benefit from some time off from work.
Unilever Canada is behind the Black Innovation Program’s Social Impact Stream which assists black entrepreneurs to enhance their impact on Canadian communities.