Coca-Cola Cuts 2,200 Jobs as Sales Plunge Due to Pandemic

By Tony Winterburn • Published: 19 Dec 2020 • 8:06

Coca-Cola has Cut 2,200 Jobs as Sales Have Plunged Due to the Coronavirus Pandemic.

Global soft drink producer Coca-Cola has announced it’s laying off 2,200 workers, or 17% of its entire workforce, as part of a larger restructuring aimed at paring down its business units and brands. The Atlanta-based company said around half of the layoffs will occur in the U.S., where Coke currently employs around 10,400 people. Coke employed 86,200 people worldwide at the end of 2019. It said the severance programs will cost between $350 million to $550 million.

About half of Coca-Cola’s sales typically comes from consumers drinking its beverages away from home. Social restrictions to curb the spread of the virus have led to widespread closures of bars, restaurants, cinemas and sports stadiums where its drinks are sold. In August, Coke said it would offer 4,000 workers in the US, Canada and Puerto Rico voluntary layoff packages.

The coronavirus pandemic has severely damaged Coke’s business, as sales at places like stadiums and movie theatres dried up due to lockdowns. Revenue fell 9% to $8.7 billion between July and September. The downturn has forced the company to accelerate a restructuring that was already underway.

The job losses do not affect employees at its bottling plants, most of which are independent. These bottling operations employ hundreds of thousands of people around the globe.

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