MillerCoors to cut 350 jobs
Having seen its beer sales drop for several years, the number two brewer in the US, MillerCoors, announced on 4 September 2018 that it will cut 350 jobs as part of a new restructuring plan aimed at getting its business “back on track”. The last time MillerCoors did a corporate reorganisation was in 2013.
In addition to axing jobs, the brewer is searching for a new chief marketing officer and has appointed a new executive to oversee the conversion of its breweries to an integrated system.
In the second quarter 2018, Molson Coors, the parent of MillerCoors, posted a US brand volume decline of 4.8 percent.
But even with shrinking beer sales, Big Brewers are still raking in profits. Last quarter Molson Coors’ net income rose 28 percent to USD 424 million as the company benefited from cost savings, lower marketing expenses and a lower tax rate, it was reported. AB-InBev and Constellation Brands also posted strong growth in net income this year.
MillerCoors is not alone in cutting jobs. In September 2017, AB-InBev announced that it would eliminate up to 350 high-level sales positions. Even Constellation Brands, which reported volume growth of 8.9 percent in 2017, recently laid off dozens of employees tasked with selling the company’s craft and specialty beers.
The reorganisations underline that the Big Brewers do not hold high hopes for their big beer brands and that sales will continue to droop for years to come. They also indicate a reshuffling of investment, as top companies may be putting more funding towards either acquiring or developing products that they hope will better meet the needs of American consumers.
