The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO), the world’s largest maker of beverages announced its plan to cut 750 jobs in the United States as it continue to restructure its business operations, according to report from the Associated Press.
A spokesperson of the company said that a quarter of the workforce reduction will be in Coca-Cola’s headquarters, and it will across the board. All of the affected employees will receive a notice from the management of the beverage maker in the next several weeks.
The Coca Cola Company (NYSE:KO) total workforce in North America is approximately 75,000 and the job cuts represent 1 percent.
Last month, the beverage maker sent a memo to its employees and indicated that it had identified several areas in the business operation of the company that needs improvement since acquiring the North American operations in 2010, which it the largest bottler of The Coca Cola Company (NYSE;KO).
The company’s memo also said that it was restructuring its business operations in the United States from seven geographies down to three geographies to reflect the successful structure of its food-service business. In addition, Coca-Cola noted that it was able to generate profits in a year “marked with continued uncertainty in the global economy.”
In 2012, The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO) reported a global sales growth of 4 percent driven by the Coca Cola brand. The beverage maker posted $1.97 earnings per share for the full year and its comparable EPS was $2.01. The results were up 6 percent and 5 percent respectively.
The Coca-Cola Company had been consolidating its global bottling system in Brazil, Japan and a majority of its interest in Philippine bottling operations was sold to Coca-Cola FEMSA. The sale was completed last January 2013.
In comparison with is competitor, the workforce reduction of The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO) is far less than the planed job cuts by PepsiCo Inc (NYSE:PEP). In February, PepsiCo announced its plan to cut 8,700 jobs globally by 2014. The company said the job reduction is part of its initiative to save $1.5 billion in costs. Pepsi’s workforce reduction accounts 3 percent of its 300,000 workforce worldwide.
The shares of The Coca Cola Company (NYSE:KO) are trading around $40.27 per share, up 1 percent n New York on Thursday around 11:15 AM.
