Final update: Anheuser-Busch InBev makes biggest cuts yet (1,400 more)

[Omaha Steve]

http://www.stltoday.com/blogzone/lager-heads/anheuser-busch/2008/12/anheuser-busch-inbev-to-cut-1400-salaried-jobs/

By Jeremiah McWilliams
St. Louis Post-Dispatch


Wow, that didn’t take long. Twenty-one days after InBev of Belgium took over Anheuser-Buschof St. Louis, the combined company moved to eliminate overlapping staff. The cuts were not unexpected, but they are dramatic nevertheless, and aimed squarely at Anheuser-Busch’s St. Louis headquarters.

Anheuser-Busch InBevis slashing 1,400 salaried jobs in the U.S., the company said today. A big axe is falling at One Busch Place — about 1,000 of the cuts will be in St. Louis, although others will come at farther-flung breweries. The cuts amount go to about 4.5 percent of Anheuser-Busch’s full-time, global work force before the merger, or 1 percent of the staff of A-B InBev now. Also, more than 250 U.S. positions that are now unfilled will remain that way, and 415 contractor positions will be eliminated, pushing the total jobs lost to about 1,800.

The primary groups affected are engineering, information technology and other corporate positions, A-B InBev said. The cuts will come at the downtown Pestalozzi St. facility and at A-B’s Sunset Hills campus, which houses IT and other functions.

Many things are NOT known right now, including how many of the contractors are in St. Louis, or whether additional cuts are coming. We also don’t know how many folks, if any, were offered transfers or other ways to keep their jobs. Many employees at A-B do not yet know if they will lose their jobs — for many, that news is expected in the next three weeks.

Morningstar analyst Ann Gilpin told Lager Heads she didn’t think these would be the last cuts, although they might represent the largest single round. Gimme Credit bond analyst Craig Hutsonsaid the fast cuts were consistent with what InBev has done in other takeovers, and that folks shouldn’t be surprised.

FULL story at link.

[hendo]

1. Saw this comming a mile away

Still sucks though.

[doc03]

2. I would like to see them hire a Brewmaster that

knows how to make a good beer for a change instead of that watered down swill.