Amid Downsizing, Coca-Cola Offers Buyouts to 4,000 Employees

The company is reducing the number of its individual business segments from 17 to nine.

In this Oct. 14, 2019 file photo, a truck with the Coca-Cola logo, behind left, maneuvers in a parking lot at a bottling plant in Needham, MA.
In this Oct. 14, 2019 file photo, a truck with the Coca-Cola logo, behind left, maneuvers in a parking lot at a bottling plant in Needham, MA.
AP Photo/Steven Senne, File

Coca-Cola is offering voluntary buyouts to about 4,000 people to reduce the number of layoffs it says will take place as it streamlines operations.

Coca-Cola is reducing the number of its individual business segments from 17 to nine, which it said Friday will result in β€œvoluntary and involuntary” staff cuts.

The streamlining is taking place during a rough stretch for Coca-Cola and almost all companies that cater to social events.

Half of Coca-Cola’s sales come from stadiums, movie theaters and other places where people gather in large numbers β€” venues that have been closed during the coronavirus pandemic. Revenue tumbled 28% in the Atlanta company's most recent quarter.

Shares of Coca-Cola Co. are down about 13% this year.

The initial round of offers will go to people working in the United States, Canada and Puerto Rico with the most-recent hire date of on or before Sept. 1, 2017.

Expenses related to the severance programs are expected to be between about $350 million to $550 million.

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