WAYZATA, Minn. — The day after Cargill announced it would eliminate thousands of jobs worldwide, nearly 500 Minnesotans learned they'd be among those impacted by the company's effort to "restructure."
The Minnesota-based food and beverage company notified the Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development (DEED) Tuesday of its plan to lay off 475 employees who work at its Wayzata Office Center location. The company said the jobs would be terminated as of Feb. 5, 2025.
A statement provided by Cargill said the move comes as part of a "long-term strategy" to continue its 160-year legacy.
"As we look to the future, we have laid out a clear plan to evolve and strengthen our portfolio to take advantage of compelling trends in front of us, maximize our competitiveness, and, above all, continue to deliver for our customers," the statement read. "As the world around us changes, we are committed to transforming even faster to deliver for our customers and fulfill our purpose of nourishing the world."
On Monday, the company announced it would reduce its global workforce by about 5%, equating to roughly 8,000 roles across 70 countries.
"To strengthen Cargill’s impact, we must realign our talent and resources to align with our strategy," the statement added. "Unfortunately, that means reducing our global workforce by approximately 5 percent. This difficult decision was not made lightly. We will lean on our core value of putting people first as we support our colleagues during this transition."
According to its website, Cargill was founded in 1865 as a single grain warehouse in Iowa. Today, it provides "food, ingredients, agricultural solutions and industrial products" to people all over the world.
Cargill did not disclose which positions were affected.
KARE11 spoke with local economists Tuesday about the decision to lay off such a large number of people. Chris Farrell, senior economics contributor at Marketplace and Minnesota Public Radio, said he believes there may be a larger impact than just Cargill.
"A lot of our iconic companies coming out of the pandemic are having trouble," Farrell said.
"I do think there is some wider significance for some of the brand names in corporate America struggling as they're adopting to this new business environment," Farrell continued.
And while there are many factors that played into this, Farrell said many companies are looking toward the future, including how to plan for President-elect Donald Trump's proposed tariffs.
"Tariffs are going to be a bigger part of the conversation, and again, that's going to be a more difficult economic environment for a global company like Cargill in the agricultural sector," Farrell said.
As for how far the ripple effects go, some don't believe they'll be far-reaching.
"I would be cautious to tie what they're doing to the entire global economy right now, I'm not saying that there's going to be a recession globally," Dave Vang, professor of finance at St. Thomas, said. "On the other hand, it actually looks like we're probably not going to have one."