AM I NEXT? NO LOVE AT AMERISOURCEBERGEN / cencora (04/14/23)

APRIL 14, 2023 — 450 LAYOFFS

The company has announced that it laid off 450 employees, as part of an effort to align “our capabilities to our customer’s needs and create an efficient organizational structure that can meet the needs of our business in the future.”

NOVEMBER 6, 2019 — PUBLISHED REPORTS INDICATE WALGREENS MAY BE SEEKING TO “GO PRIVATE” IN A LEVERAGED BUY-OUT.

Employees need to be extremely vigilant as the company may be in play or subject to external events that would most definitely impact employees.

According to Reuters …

“Walgreens has tasked investment bank Evercore Partners with exploring whether a transaction can be put together, the sources said, cautioning that a deal is far from certain.”

“Walgreens has also contemplated divesting some of its assets, such as its 27% stake in drug wholesaler AmerisourceBergen Corp, to provide more funding, one of the sources added. The sources asked not to be identified because the matter is confidential. Walgreens and Evercore declined to comment.”

August 11, 2019 — Previous post…

Chesterbrook, Pennsylvania-based AmerisourceBergen, a global drug wholesaler specializing in pharmaceutical distribution services, is continuing its previously announced consolidation and restructuring activities which will include the closure of its Valencia, California distribution center and resulting in the layoff of 108 employees commencing in September 2019. Operations will be transferred to the company’s other distribution center located approximately 86 miles from Valencia in Corona, California.

According to a company spokesperson, “As part of an ongoing effort to evaluate and align our capabilities to our customer’s needs, we have made the decision to end distribution activities in our Valencia, California, facility. Operations will end by the fall of 2019. The contribution of our Valencia associates is greatly appreciated, and this decision was not made lightly.”

The company noted that its operating expenses include $10.8 million of employee severance, $18.8 million of litigation costs primarily related to opioid lawsuits and investigations, and $30.4 million of other costs in connection with acquisition-related deal and integration costs, business transformation efforts, and other restructuring initiatives in the three months ended June 30, 2019.

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. We see good people being laid off through no fault of their own. 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?

AM I NEXT? NO LOVE -- LAYOFFS AT POST'S WEETABIX CEREAL PLANT

Brentwood, Missouri-based Post Holdings, the packaged foods company with several iconic brands, has announced that the closing of their 235,000 square-foot cereal manufacturing facility located in Clinton, Massachusetts and the layoff of 181 employees. The facility, acquired in 2017 produces the Weetabix line of whole grain wheat breakfast cereals.

The company’s operations will be transferred to other Post facilities. Dave McBeain, senior vice president of Post supply chain and operations noted, “By leveraging our broad network capabilities, we can keep our costs as low as possible for continue growth in both traditional and natural/organic cereal.”

This should not come as a surprise to employees as the company announced the plant’s closure and anticipated sale of the property on February 27, 2018.

A company spokesperson explained, “The planned closure of the facility reflects Post’s continuous improvement initiative to optimize its cereal production network and manage costs in the ready-to-eat cereal category.

The facility, which was acquired with the $1.8 billion acquisition of Weetabix on July 3, 2017, employs approximately 180 employees and is expected to close by August 2019. Post will engage in discussions with the union representing the hourly employees at the Clinton facility to determine the impact to terms and conditions of employment for the unionized workers. Affected employees have been notified.”

The cold cereal industry is undergoing a change in consumer purchasing preferences and patterns and the industry sales of cereal products has been dropping over ten percent in the past five years. Few consumers have failed to note the dramatic increase in cereal pricing by Post, Kellogg, and General Mills.

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 ... are you now wondering, Am I Next?