Kraft Heinz to Slash 2500 Jobs

Kraft Co (KHC) said it will cut 2,500 jobs in the and as part of its cost cutting initiatives following the creation of the company through the $46-billion merger of ketchup maker H.J. with Kraft Foods. This includes the expectation of about $1.5 billion in cost-savings by the end of 2017, the company said.

Mayor Paul Soglin said in a statement Wednesday afternoon he is deeply concerned about the well-being of the employees and their families and expects to work closely with the company and workforce development entities to assist in finding the workers comparable positions. The corporate has stated that the laid-off staff will obtain severance advantages for six months or extra along with outplacement providers.

Kraft Heinz neither issued outlook for the future quarters nor held a conference call to discuss the results.

About 700 of the affected jobs will come from the company’s headquarters in Northfield in the midwestern state of Illinois, said spokesman Michael Mullen.

When a joint venture of Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway and Brazilian private investment group 3G Capital acquired Heinz two years ago, thousands of jobs were cut, while factories were closed and worked shifted to other locations.

An unconfirmed media report said a social media post from a person, identified as a Kraft Ingleside worker, suggested some people were escorted from the plant at 70 Dickinson Drive.

The company has so far refused to comment on the impact the merger will have on its marketing output. The Kraft business booked a profit of $551 million (92 cents a share), up from $482 million (80 cents a share) the year prior.

Shares in Kraft fell 1.31 or 1.66% in after-hour trading to 77.50.

“We have a lot of hard work ahead of us as we continue to design our new organization, always putting our consumers first”, he added. 3G’s Bernardo Hees, who is now running the combined foodmaker, cut more than 7,000 jobs in 20 months after taking over at Heinz.

On Monday, both Kraft and Heinz divisions reported a decline in second-quarter sales, hurt by factors ranging from lower beverage sales and pricing pressures to a stronger dollar and weak European demand.