NEW YORK: Coca-Cola Co plans to cut 1,000-2,000 jobs globally in the coming weeks, the Wall Street Journal (WSJ) reported, citing people familiar with the matter.
The job cuts are part of Coke’s US$3 billion (RM10.5 billion) cost-cutting plans, which it announced in October after posting a 14 per cent drop in third-quarter profit, according to WSJ.
Job-cut notices will go out to North American staffers by January 8 and to international employees by January 15, WSJ reported.
The impact is expected to be significant at Coke’s headquarters in Atlanta and global regional offices, where more than 10 per cent of corporate staff could lose their jobs, according to the report.
The company’s bottling and distribution divisions, which account for more than 85 per cent of the company’s more than 130,000 employees, are largely out of the firing line for now, the report said.
Coke is also introducing stricter budgeting such as asking executives to swap limousines for taxis, and has cancelled its Christmas party for Wall Street analysts, WSJ reported.
The company was not immediately available for comment.
Coke said in October that it was targeting US$3 billion in cost savings by 2019, up from the US$1 billion it announced in February.
Wintergreen Advisers, a minority shareholder of the company, last week called for the replacement of chief executive Muhtar Kent, calling him “incapable of leading Coke’s turnaround”. Reuters