Agribusiness giant Cargill announces layoffs: Reports
According to a report from Associated Press, agribusiness giant Cargill is making major layoffs to its operations that may impact its operations here in Canada.
The company employs some 160,000 worldwide and has operations in British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Ontario and Quebec amounting to some 8,000 employees.
The Associated Press report says the cuts that will amount to some 5% of its workforce is part of the company’s strategy to “to strengthen Cargill’s impact,” and to realign its resources.
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This year, the privately held Cargill reported profits of US$2.48 billion for its fiscal year ending in May. While impressive to some, it is down significantly from last year where the Minneapolis-located company reported US$6.7 billion, drive according to reports by declining prices for corn and soybeans.
According to an internal memo seen by Bloomberg, while the company did not go into specifics of where the layoffs will happen, Brian Sikes, chief executive officer of Cargill, told employees that the cuts will happen this year and that some senior leaders in the company will likely be let go. Earlier, the company had reduced the number of its business unites from five to three and let go some 200 persons from technology-related positions.
