RIO Tinto CEO Simon Trott wanted a “fundamental” reorganisation of the mining giant, focusing operations around its most profitable commodities, said Bloomberg News citing an email to staff.
The email avoided an explicit mention of anticipated job losses, but said the restructuring was to create a “sharper, simpler” business capable of faster decision-making and improved performance, focused on aluminium, lithium, copper and iron ore.
“The changes we are making are not incremental — they are fundamental,” Trott said in the message. “We are transforming to make life easier for our frontline and lift our performance.”
Changes would deliver clearer roles and reduce low-value work, said Trott who also acknowledged it would “take time to work through the details”. He did not specify cost savings or redundancies.
Trott, previously responsible for iron ore at Rio, assumed leadership in August amid pressure to streamline a company. Group headcount has increased more than 25% since 2020, according to Barclays analysts including Amos Fletcher.
Bloomberg said that Paul Graves, who led lithium operations and previously served as CEO of Arcadium Lithium before Rio’s $6.7bn acquisition, will leave the company. This was after his role had been subsumed into a combined aluminium and lithium unit.
That division is now headed by Jérôme Pécresse, once considered a candidate to run Rio Tinto. Barbara Fochtman, Arcadium’s former COO, will become MD for lithium. Four board directors departed earlier this month.
Rio employed approximately 60,000 staff at the end of 2024, said Bloomberg News.
