Chicago Job Market to Lose More Jobs

News out about the Chicago job market is not good. PepsiCo, the company manufacturing numerous soda drinks, announced it will reduce employees in Chicago by at least 150 people. That drop in positions could be a bad thing for the market as a whole. The company is making the move, it says, because it needs to lower production costs and to reinvest in key brands. Three of those brands are handled locally in the Chicago area.

What This Means

In the Chicago workforce, the cut in jobs will amount to about 8 percent of the area's employment by the company. Those cuts will come from the Tropicana, Gatorade and Quaker staffing and employees will receive notifications in the coming week about the cuts. The company is still profitable, bringing in a new worth of over $66 billion. It has 2000 employees working throughout the area.

According to PepsiCo's chief executive officer, Indra Nooyi, "We have to make these tough choices if we are to create the breathing room to keep reinvesting in the company." Also notable, the job cuts to the Chicago area and other locations will end up saving the company more than $1.5 billion. In total, the company is cutting its workforce by 8700 people, which will span the globe to include more than 30 countries. The process will happen over three years. This amounts to a total cut in jobs by 3 percent company-wide. The company is also slashing the number of marketing agencies it is working with from 300 to just 150, which will also affect the job market in those fields.