What it does: Unilever is a manufacturing company that specializes in the production, distribution, and sales of consumer goods that can be grouped into three categories: Home Care, Foods and Refreshments, and Personal Care.
Mission: Unilever's mission is to revitalize life and meet daily requirements for hygiene, nutrition, and personal care through brands that help people look better, feel better and live better.
Size and presence: Unilever has more than 750 employees across its various branches in Nigeria. Its head office is located in Ikeja, Lagos.
Best known for: In 2016, the Top Employers Institute named Unilever as the Best Employer for the third consecutive time. In 2015, it was awarded as the 2nd Best Company To Work. Unilever is known for being a parent company to several brands which are household names in Nigeria.
The good bits: Unilever has a great working environment. The employees enjoy some benefits and perks thanks to a sound welfare program. The management is easy to work with.
The not so good bits: The work pressure may be too much, especially when employees have to cover for a vacant job role.
Unilever's history in Nigeria dates back to 1923. At that time, it wasn't known as Unilever before the merger. Robert Leverhulme established a trading station in Nigeria known as the Lever Brothers West Africa Ltd. This company specialised in distributing and selling soaps.
In 1924, the name became West African Soap Company. The Lever Brothers sensed the potential of the Nigerian market, and in 1925, they opened the first soap factory in Apapa. Soon after, the company expanded its business portfolio to include food production. In 1955, the business name changed to Lever Brothers Limited. In 1958, it established a second soap factory in Aba.
Two years later, this company launched Omo detergent into the Nigerian market. This product quickly became a household name, and in 1964, the firm established an Omo manufacturing facility. In 1973, Unilever became a publicly listed company. In 1995, Unilever Nigeria Limited merged with the Lever Brothers. Unilever gained control of the newly formed company. Six years later, the company rebranded as Unilever Nigeria Plc.
The company culture is founded on a set of principles known as the Unilever Code of Business Principles. They embody core values such as responsibility, respect, pioneering, and integrity. Unilever's healthy work environment ensures these core values are not some abstract ideals but emulated by its employees and management staff in their day-to-day activities.
Unilever encourages its employees to voice their concerns about potential problems in the company. The company welcomes diversity, and its recruitment policy doesn't discriminate on the basis of gender, culture, and other areas. This is the ideal company for fresh graduates.
Unilever's recruitment process involves several steps, including:
Unilever is a hub for career development, making it ideal for fresh graduates looking for the right company to begin their professional life. Unilever provides a supportive environment that enables young professionals such as fresh graduates and interns to receive the right orientation and develop professionally until they're at their best in their respective capacities.
Unilever makes this possible by offering various graduate and internship programs that will give young prospects exposure to challenging and exciting opportunities.
The average annual pay of a fresh graduate working at Unilever Nigeria is ₦1.6 million.
Unilever Nigeria also actively fights against anemia which is predominant in rural areas in Nigeria, through its Knorr Force for Food project. This initiative sensitizes teenage girls and mothers on the benefits of cooking iron-rich meals. This initiative has successfully sensitized thousands of households in Nigeria.
Unilever Nigeria isn't affiliated with any controversy in Nigeria.