WAYZATA, Minn. — Minnesota-based international food supply-chain company Cargill is letting go of 5% of their staff globally.
According to its factsheet, Cargill operates in 70 countries across the globe and employs more than 160,000 workers. Five percent of that is 8,000 people.
Cargill is the nation’s biggest private company for the fourth year in a row, Forbes reports, despite seeing a nearly 10% drop in revenue. According to Forbes, CEO Brian Sikes described the marketplace as “extremely challenging” in the company’s 2024 annual report.
In a statement, Cargill said it is working to set a "long term strategy" to continue their nearly 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. As the world around us changes, we are committed to transforming even faster to deliver for our customers and fulfil our purpose of nourishing the world," the statement reads.
The company is a "critical connector of the global food system" the factsheet states. Thirty-three percent of their workers are in Asia and the Pacific, and 31% are in North America.
"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 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," the statement reads.