Anheuser-Busch InBev plans to cut 1,400 salaried workers in its beer-related divisions, or around 6 percent of the company’s U.S. work force, the brewer said Monday, three weeks after InBev took over.
About 75 percent of the affected workers, or 1,050, are based in the St. Louis area. Most are engineers, information technology workers and other corporate positions.
The brewer also said it will leave 250 U.S. positions vacant and eliminate an additional 415 contractor positions.
Most of the job cuts will occur by the end of the year, with the remainder scheduled for 2009.
Anheuser-Busch InBev will provide employees severance pay and pension benefits based on age and years of service. Employees also will be offered outplacement services. The Budweiser maker said it expects $197 million in pretax expense related with the reduction.
These job cuts are in addition to the more than 1,000 U.S. salaried employees company-wide who accepted the company’s buyout and retirement offers. Most of those workers and the unfilled positions are based in St. Louis, bringing the total number of local salaried jobs eliminated to 2,300. That's nearly 40 percent of the brewer's St. Louis work force of 6,000.
The retirements and job cuts are part of the brewer's plan, dubbed Blue Ocean, to cut $1 billion in costs. The plan, announced in June, includes reducing the company's full-time salaried workf orce of 8,600 by 10 to 15 percent before the year end.
"These decisions are a result of a careful review of each department," A-B President Dave Peacock wrote to employees in a memo Monday. "As expected, there are overlapping functions and synergies gained through the merger, which have driven part of these reductions. Others are the result of ongoing efficiency improvements and additional cost-reductions, including lower capital expenditures. These were not easy decisions but were necessary for the organization."
Belgian brewer InBev completed its $52 billion acquisition of St. Louis-based Anheuser Busch last month .
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