Coca-Cola has announced that it is cutting 6,000 jobs, or 20 per cent of its workforce worldwide, after a small fourth-quarter loss. Some 2,500 of the jobs will go at the company's headquarters in Atlanta, with the rest distributed throughout its operations outside the United States.
Coca-Cola Bottlers Ireland, which employs 550, and Atlantic, the concentration operation of Coca-Cola's Irish franchise, which employs 480 in Drogheda, Co Louth and Ballina, Co Mayo, will not be affected by the cuts, according to the company.
It will be three to four weeks before any decision is made on the rest of its operations.
Atlantic is planning to expand its operation with the recruitment of another 55 to 85 people at its Ballina plant.
Coca-Cola, which expects to save about $300 million (€300 million) in annual expenses from its reorganisation, lost $45 million (or two cents a diluted share) after an $813 million writedown for the three months to December 31st, compared with a profit of $597 million, or 24 cents a share, in the year-earlier period. The writedown pushed the group into losses during the final quarter of its financial year.
