Agricultural powerhouse Cargill, one of the world’s biggest privately held firms with thousands of Canadian employees, is slashing its global workforce as part of a major restructuring effort.
Cargill is a major food processor, merchandiser and commodity trader with deep roots in global agricultural systems dating back some 160 years. The company has more than 160,000 employees globally and is based out of Minnesota in the United States but makes its Canadian headquarters in Winnipeg.
According to Cargill’s Canadian website, the company employs roughly 8,000 people in Canada across some 70 cities.
A Cargill spokesperson confirmed in a statement to Global News on Tuesday that it is set for major workforce reductions.
“To strengthen Cargill’s impact, we must realign our talent and resources to align with our strategy. Unfortunately, that means reducing our global workforce by approximately (five per cent),” the statement read, working out to roughly 8,000 employees.
Global News asked about any impacts to the Canadian side of its operations but did not receive a response.
Thomas Hesse, president of the UFCW Local 401 union that represents nearly 2,500 Cargill workers at two plants in Calgary and High River, Alta., said in a statement Tuesday that it doesn’t appear Albertan workers are affected at this point.
“Based on initial representations from Company officials, it appears that the workforce reduction plan will not impact Cargill’s Alberta operations at this time. However, we will continue to monitor this situation carefully,” he said.
Hesse added that layoffs would not be justified at the pair of Alberta meat processing plants, given surging beef prices in recent years.
“We will continue fighting for and representing the best interests of Cargill workers with every tool and resource at our disposal to ensure that large corporations like Cargill treat their workers fairly,” he said.
Employees were alerted to the impending restructuring in an internal memo first obtained by Bloomberg.
Most of Cargill’s job reductions would take place this year, the company’s president and CEO, Brian Sikes, said in a the memo also reviewed by Reuters on Tuesday.
“They will focus on streamlining our organizational structure by removing layers, expanding the scope and responsibilities of our managers, and reducing duplication of work,” Sikes said in the memo.
Unlisted Cargill reported revenue of $160 billion for its 2024 fiscal year that ended in May, down from a record $177 billion in the previous year.
Cargill does not release quarterly earnings statements, but in a memo seen by Reuters in August, it said less than one-third of its businesses met their earnings goals in the last fiscal year.
“Impacts to our operations and frontline teams will be kept to a minimum as we empower them to continue delivering for our customers,” Sikes said in the memo.
The move comes after Cargill said in August it would undergo structural changes after missing internal earnings goals, with plans to streamline operations into three units from five as part of its 2030 strategy, Reuters reported in August.
Sikes said the company will hold a meeting on Dec. 9 to share more information about the restructuring.
“This week, for those in countries where we can immediately communicate to employees whose roles are impacted, we’ll set up meetings to explain next steps,” he said.
— With files from Global News’s Ken MacGillivray and Reuters