Apr 27, 2001

Anglo Dutch Food Products Company Unilever to Cut 8,000 Additional Jobs in North America, Europe The Associated Press

AMSTERDAM, Netherlands (AP) - Anglo-Dutch food giant Unilever will slash 8,000 more jobs and close 30 plants as it integrates the recently acquired Bestfoods into its operations, a spokesman said Friday.

The 8,000 jobs come in addition to 25,000 jobs the consumer products maker said it will cut over five years to recover from a slump in profits. The combined cut of 33,000 jobs represents 11 percent of Unilever's worldwide work force of about 300,000 people,

Unilever, the company behind such household names as Dove soap, Lipton tea, Vaseline, Pepsodent and Ben and Jerry's ice cream, made the announcement Friday along with its first quarter earnings.

The job losses are part of the company's plans to reduce the number of core brands by 75 percent to focus on its 400 leading products.

Spokesman Tom Gordijn said the job losses will be at Bestfoods production sites in North America, Latin America and, to a lesser extent, in Europe.

Unilever said it has already slashed 8,000 positions of the previously announced 25,000 jobs.

Unilever bought Bestfoods in June 2000 and acquired Ben and Jerry's ice cream and Slimfast foods later last year. The purchases cost more than $28 billion and made Unilever one of the largest food companies in the United States.

AP-ES-04-27-01 1046EDT

This story can be found at : http://ap.tbo.com/ap/breaking/MGAJJAM12MC.html

-- Martin Thompson (mthom1927@aol.com), April 27, 2001

Answers

What I don't understand is that I don't think people have quit eating. I can understand letting some workers go, but this is a lot of bodies. Doesn't this mean a contraction on production? Or not? CAn they consolidate enuff to make up the difference and maintain production?

-- Taz (Tassie123@aol.com), April 27, 2001.