JUNE 12, 2021 — OFFICE CLOSURES
The company’s reorganization continues with closures of its Epic Provisions’ offices in Austin, Texas, and Annie's Homegrown’s office in Berkeley, California.
The company reiterated that staff cuts are likely to heavily impact the company's headquarters, which could see up to 20% of its workforce permanently laid off.
JUNE 5, 2021 — ORGANIZATIONAL REALIGNMENT AND 700 - 800 LAYOFFS
The company has announced layoff plans that include 700 to 800 U.S. and Canadian jobs and 500 to 600 international positions citing the post-pandemic purchasing behaviors of consumers. The layoffs will a realignment in business units and a reduction in force among the headquarters staff.
According to CEO, Jeff Harmening, "I know this isn't easy and that there are real-world personal impacts in us making this shift. And last week was especially hard as we shared that reshaping our organization meant that many of our colleagues will be leaving General Mills. I also want to be transparent: there are more hard decisions yet to come. Please know, none of these decisions are made lightly — and we are striving to do all of this quickly and respectfully."
A company spokesperson added, "We are making organizational changes to ensure General Mills continues its momentum. The goal of this initiative is to free up resources from parts of our organization and redeploy them in more growth-focused areas, such as digital, data & technology, e-commerce, strategic revenue management, and other capabilities that are critical to our future success."
The company anticipates reduced revenues as consumers consume less prepared breakfast foods experienced in lockdowns and limited shopping opportunities and return to more normal purchasing behaviors.
JULY 6, 2018 — Orignal post…
Golden Valley, Minnesota-based General Mills is currently implementing its 2017 restructuring plan leading to mass layoffs.
According to General Mills Chairman and CEO Jeff Harmening. “In the third quarter of fiscal 2017, we approved restructuring actions designed to better align our organizational structure with our strategic initiatives. This action will affect approximately 600 positions and we expect to incur approximately $76 million of net expenses relating to these actions, all of which will be cash. We have recorded $1.4 million of restructuring charges in the nine-month period ended February 25, 2018, relating to these actions. We recorded $73.1 million of restructuring charges in the third quarter of fiscal 2017. We expect these actions to be completed by the end of fiscal 2018.” Many of the layoffs have already occurred, but there is no guarantee that additional layoffs will not occur.
Harmening continues, "Fiscal 2018 represented an important first step in returning our business to sustainable topline growth. We made significant progress toward competing more effectively this year, with strong innovation, marketing, and in-store execution driving positive organic sales growth in each of our last three quarters. And we moved to reshape our portfolio for future growth with the acquisition of Blue Buffalo, a fast-growing, highly profitable business that is leading the transformation of the U.S. pet food category. While our full-year profit results fell short of our initial plans, we finished the year delivering growth in sales, margins, profit, and EPS in the fourth quarter."
It appears that the changing habits of consumers is resulting in a significant reduction in traditional breakfast products and snacks. Therefore, it should come as no surprise that General Mills will continue to shed products, plants, and employees to redeploy savings into products with greater upside.
Change is coming. There will always be a tomorrow, no matter how much you may try to ignore it. There are no guarantees in life or promises for a bright future. Just because something bad hasn't happened yet, doesn't mean it won't. It can happen to anyone, anytime, anywhere. No one is guaranteed to wake up tomorrow and still have a job by evening. Are you now wondering, Am I Next?