AB InBev to slash 2% of its corporate staff across the US

USA – Anheuser-Busch InBev (AB InBev), the world’s largest beer brewer, has announced plans to slash hundreds of corporate roles in the United States to “simplify” layers in its organization.

In a statement, Anheuser-Busch said it is eliminating close to 2% of workers “across every corporate function.” That represents about 380 of AB InBev’s roughly 19,000 employees. The company didn’t give a timeline for when the layoffs will begin.

“Today we took the very difficult but necessary decision to eliminate a number of positions across our corporate organization,” Brendan Whitworth, the president of AB InBev’s operations in North America, said in a statement published by CNN.

 “While we never take these decisions lightly, we want to ensure that our organization continues to be set for future long-term success.”

The job cuts would not include frontline staff such as those working in breweries and warehouses, including drivers, field sales representatives, among others.

According to The Wall Street Journal, the restructuring has already eliminated marketing and corporate roles at the company’s major US offices, including those in New York and Los Angeles.

In the month ending July 15, Bud Light’s U.S. sales were down 26.5%, while Constellation Brands’ Modelo was up 13.5%. Bud Light held a 6.8% share of the U.S. beer market in that period, while Modelo held an 8.7% share.

Sales of Bud Light took a hit after the company designed a marketing campaign in April with social media star and trans rights activist Dylan Mulvaney.

Amid calls from some conservatives for a boycott, Bud Light lost its longtime ranking in May as the nation’s best-selling beer, with rival Modelo Especial taking the lead.

AB InBev is also the target of a government investigation led by Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis.  The Governor wants Florida’s pension system to investigate whether AB InBev, the company that makes Bud Light, “breached legal duties” to shareholders. Florida’s pension funds have about US$46 million in AB InBev shares.

The governor told Fox News host Jesse Watters that AB InBev didn’t follow its “fiduciary duty to do the best you can for your shareholders” and a lawsuit could be filed on behalf of Florida pension fund shareholders.

“Anheuser-Busch InBev takes our responsibility to our shareholders, employees, distributors, and customers seriously,” a spokesperson for the company responded to CNBC.

“We are focused on driving long-term, sustainable growth for them by optimizing our business and providing consumers products to enjoy for any occasion.”

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