About 1,000 Unilever Plc staff will keep their jobs by switching to the consumer goods company’s ice cream unit, a body representing its European workers said.

The company has targeted a headcount reduction of around 3,200 in the region, but a deal with Unilever’s European Works Council will see around 1,500 workers avoid redundancy, the group said Friday. In a separate statement, Unilever said that as well as switching roles to its ice cream division, it would also use a hiring freeze and natural attrition to reduce the number of staff who have the leave the business.