If you're hoping to get a job at a brewery, timing and the economy may not be on your side.
Anheuser-Busch InBev recently announced its plan to cut 1,400 salaried workers, or about 6 percent of the company's United States workforce. The company also plans to leave 250 positions vacant and eliminate 415 contractor positions, according to an article by the Jacksonville Business Journal.
Of the workers to be laid off, about 1,050 are employed in the St. Louis area. Most of those to lose their jobs are employed in the beer-related division of the company and hold positions as engineers, information technology workers and other corporate positions.
Anheuser-Busch InBev plans to provide the employees with severance pay and pension benefits based on age and years of service. Employees also will be offered outplacement services to help them find jobs. The company expects $197 million in pre-tax expenses related with the cutbacks.
The job cuts are part of a plan to save $1 billion in costs, which includes reducing the company's 8,600 person workforce by 10 to 15 percent before next year. More than 1,000 employees previously accepted company buyout and retirement offers, meaning 2,300 jobs have been cut. That's about 40 percent of the 6,000 person workforce in St. Louis.
"These decisions are a result of a careful review of each department," President Dave Peacock said in the article. "As expected, there are overlapping functions and synergies gained through the merger, which have driven part of these reductions.
"Others are the result of ongoing efficiency improvements and additional cost-reductions, including lower capital expenditures," Peacock continued. "These were not easy decisions but were necessary for the organization."
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