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Corporate America has been draining the world's water. Matt Damon's new campaign calls on Gap, Starbucks, and Amazon to help give it back

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NewslettersFortune CHRO

How the CPO of e.l.f beauty is communicating with employees through tariff uncertainty

Brit Morse
By
Brit Morse
Brit Morse
Leadership Reporter
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Brit Morse
By
Brit Morse
Brit Morse
Leadership Reporter
Down Arrow Button Icon
April 30, 2025, 8:26 AM ET
Lipsticks being maufactured in a factory.
To help employees tackle the immediate stress of Trump’s tariff plans, the CPO of cosmetics brand e.l.f says it helps to remind employees of long-term plans.Getty Images

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Cosmetics powerhouse e.l.f. Beauty Inc. offers an unusual compensation structure to employees. 

Unlike other organizations, the company gives all of its roughly 600 workers equity at the time of hire, as well as new grants each year. This means regular employees outside of the C-suite, who may not have otherwise had the opportunity, are able to take advantage of the kind of equity most often reserved for upper management. 

But Trump’s latest tariff announcements have turned that compensation strategy into an HR issue. About 80% of the company’s products, including lip oils and foundations, are manufactured by third party sellers in China, according to e.l.f. That became a major point of concern when Trump announced a 145% levy on goods coming from that country. 

That means that while some U.S. employees might be worried about how these tariffs will affect the general economy and hiring environment, e.l.f. employees are seeing their equity weighed down by trade uncertainty. The stock price of e.l.f. was $133.91 in January, but has fallen to around $62.17. 

“Most people have jitters at the moment, it’s hard not to,” says e.l.f.’s chief people officer Scott Milsten, who’s led the company’s HR practices for more than a decade. 

But given that all staffers are part owners, he says that leadership doesn’t run from the problem. Instead, the executive team is leaning into communicating. That involves reminding employees of their stock options, encouraging folks to stick it out for the long-term, and noting that the company’s compensation structure also makes “refresh grants” available to all employees. 

“We sort of overshare internally,” he says. “So while this is a time when I think you might find companies sort of retreating into silence, we absolutely go the other way.” 

Milsten says the company’s strategy of communicating openly with employees allows workers to focus on their investments long term, rather than the short term losses. 

“It’s been tough for people, personally, to navigate this,” he says. “But [the] number one priority for me is making sure people understand how we’re navigating uncertain times, because regardless of the economic environment, our ability to take market share should always be true and we’ve shown that.

Brit Morse
brit.morse@fortune.com

Around the Table

A round-up of the most important HR headlines.

UPS is planning to cut 20,000 operational positions this year, looking to slash costs after parting ways with its biggest customer: Amazon. Wall Street Journal

More than five million borrowers are about to face a harsh reality as the government moves to collect on student loan debt. New York Times

Giant retailers including Walmart and Target have resumed business with some of their Chinese suppliers, after pausing orders for a few weeks due to tariffs. CNN

Watercooler

Everything you need to know from Fortune.

Lofty expectations. Most Gen Z graduates expect a six-figure paycheck from their first job and experts say in reality, it will be a lot less. —Sara Braun

No college needed. Degrees don’t matter as much to top employers anymore, a CEO who has studied thousands of companies confirms. —Orianna Rosa Royle

Sticking with remote. Spotify’s HR chief says that the company is doubling down on its work-from-anywhere policy and that employees shouldn’t be treated as “children.” —Ryan Hogg

This is the web version of Fortune CHRO, a newsletter focusing on helping HR executives navigate the needs of the workplace. Sign up to get it delivered free to your inbox.
About the Author
Brit Morse
By Brit MorseLeadership Reporter
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Brit Morse is a former Leadership reporter at Fortune, covering workplace trends and the C-suite. She also writes CHRO Daily, Fortune’s flagship newsletter for HR professionals and corporate leaders.

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