The Coca-Cola Company has announced that it will cut 2,200 jobs worldwide, including 1,200 in the US, as it looks to accelerate its ongoing business restructuring amid Covid-19 challenges.
Back in August, the soft drinks giant announced a major business restructuring as it seeks to revitalise growth after its sales took a hit from the global Covid-19 pandemic. The health crisis has resulted in the widespread closure of away-from-home channels, where a proportion of Coca Cola’s soft drinks are sold.
At the time, the company announced that 4,000 employees across the US, Canada and Puerto Rico will be offered voluntary separation packages. Coca-Cola also highlighted that further job cuts across the company’s global operations were likely, confirming that a similar programme will be offered in many countries internationally.
Coca-Cola – which had roughly 86,200 employees at the end of last year – has not disclosed the number of employees who have accepted the package nor given details about the timeline for the jobs, according to Reuters. It has been reported that around 500 job cuts will be made in metro Atlanta, where Coca Cola’s headquarter is based.
A Coca-Cola spokesman, as cited by the BBC, said the company expects the recent job cuts to result in annual savings of between $350 million and $550 million.
“The pandemic was not a cause for these changes, but it has been a catalyst for the company to move faster,” Coca-Cola said in an emailed statement, as cited by Reuters.
As part of its efforts to streamline its operations, the company has announced the retirement of several brands including Tab diet soda, Coke Life and Zico Coconut Water.
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