Cargill plans to cut 5% of its global workforce, which based on data in the US-headquartered agri-food giant’s annual report would amount to around 8,000 jobs.
The world’s largest agricultural products company said the reductions were part of its “long-term strategy” introduced this year, although Cargill did not expand on the actual reasons for the elimination of jobs.
“To strengthen Cargill’s impact, we must realign our talent and resources to align with our strategy,” the privately-owned meat processor said in a statement.
“Unfortunately, that means reducing our global workforce by approximately 5%. This difficult decision was not made lightly. We will lean on our core value of putting people first as we support our colleagues during this transition.”
Cargill realigned its business this year from five operational units into three – food enterprise, agriculture and trading, and a “specialised portfolio” – under CEO Brian Sikes.
The farm-to-fork company’s 2024 annual report put the global employee count at 160,000 and revenue at $160bn. A year earlier, revenue was $177bn. The year previous, Cargill generated revenue of $165bn in 2022.
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By GlobalData
The company operates in 70 countries, serving as a supplier to retail, foodservice and B2B customers. On the food side, the Minnesota-based company is a major beef and poultry producer but is also present in eggs and plant-based proteins.
It is a major supplier of cage-free eggs in the US to fast-food chain McDonald’s and also supplies cocoa to KitKat maker Nestlé.
“As we look to the future, we have laid out a clear plan to evolve and strengthen our portfolio to take advantage of compelling trends in front of us, maximise our competitiveness, and, above all, continue to deliver for our customers,” Cargill said in the statement.
“As the world around us changes, we are committed to transforming even faster to deliver for our customers and fulfil our purpose of nourishing the world.”
Earlier this year, Cargill divested its Konspol business in Poland to France’s poultry major LDC. It also sold a sausage production facility to US peer Smithfield Foods and a beef factory in California to Central Valley Meats.
It also has a number of overseas ventures, including C-Joy with Jollibee Foods in the Philippines, and PT Cahaya Gunung Foods in Indonesia with So Good Food, a subsidiary of Singapore-headquartered Japfa.
In the UK, Cargill is a shareholder in poultry supplier Avara Foods with Faccenda Foods. Avara also closed a couple of factories last year.
