Cans made for the Cola drink by Coca-Cola Co. move along the production line.
Chris Ratcliffe | Bloomberg | Getty Images
Coca-Cola will cut around 2,200 jobs in its global workforce as part of a broader restructuring plan accelerated by the coronavirus pandemic.
In the United States, Coke will use layoffs and acquisitions to cut about 1,200 jobs, representing about 12% of the workforce in its home market. The news was first reported by the Wall Street Journal.
At the end of 2019, the Atlanta-based company had 86,200 employees worldwide. But the pandemic has weighed on their revenues and increased costs for the beverage giant. Around half of sales are typically made by consumers who drink their beverages from home. Net sales decreased 9% in the third quarter.
Coke has responded to the crisis and accelerated its plans to restructure its business and reduce its portfolio. The production of beverages such as Tab and the Odwalla brand, which do not sell well and do not offer great growth opportunities, has ceased. The company plans to build new operational units at the regional and local levels, working closely with five global marketing leadership teams divided by category.
Part of the restructuring includes job cuts. In August, Coke announced it would offer voluntary layoffs to 4,000 workers in the US, Canada and Puerto Rico.
Overall, Coke expects to spend $ 350 million to $ 550 million on severance costs. The employees of the bottlers are not included in the job losses.
Coke’s shares, valued at $ 230 billion, rose less than 1% in afternoon trading. The stock is down 3% in 2020.
