Hershey has carried out the jobs the company indicated in February it would make as part of efforts to generate savings and invest in automation.
The US group is reportedly laying off around 200 employees, around 1% of its total workforce.
At the same time, Hershey, which also makes salty snacks, is said to be adding dozens of new jobs in areas such as technology and data science.
The confirmation of the cuts was reported by news agency Reuters, which quoted numbers supplied by an unnamed company spokesperson.
In February, Hershey announced a restructuring plan that included reducing its workforce to drive productivity by automating processes.
At the time, the snacks major said it wanted to generate $300m in savings by 2026. The initiative also aimed to improve supply chain and manufacturing-related spending.
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By GlobalData
A Hershey spokesperson confirmed to Just Food the job losses are the ones mooted early this year. “The changes to jobs and roles are part of transformation announced in February, obviously at a much smaller scale than media reported,” the spokesperson said.
On the reasoning behind the job cuts, the spokesperson offered a statement “on changes we’re making to advance our vision and strategies we introduced in 2023”.
The statement said: “We remain focused on transforming our business to better position Hershey for success. As part of that transformation, we are making meaningful changes to evolve our capabilities, systems and ways of working to become a leading snacking powerhouse.”
Last month, New York-listed Hershey revealed its net sales in the three months to 30 June fell 16.7% to $2.08bn and were down 16.8% in organic terms, year-on-year.
Sales also dropped across the group’s North American confectionery and international business divisions. However, Hershey’s North American salty snacks business bucked the trend as reported sales rose 6.4%, with volume-mix up 9% on the back of a 3% decrease in pricing.
President and CEO Michele Buck said at the time that the “operating environment remains dynamic, with consumers pulling back on discretionary spending”
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