Pepsi plans to slash 8,700 jobs in cost-cutting drive
PEPSICO chief executive Indra Nooyi has laid out a radical plan to turn around the company’s North American soft drink business by cutting 8,700 jobs and ramping up advertising spend by $500m – at the expense of short-term earnings.
The firm reported a fourth quarter profit of $1.42bn (£897m), up from $1.37bn a year earlier and topping estimates.
PepsiCo expects to cut three per cent of its global workforce across 30 countries as part of a plan to save an extra $1.5bn over the next three years.
Nooyi has come under pressure from Wall Street for a stagnant stock price, and has pledged to ramp up advertising using some of the savings.
She has been criticised for taking her eye off the core business of sodas to expand into healthier products, such as drinkable oatmeal.