Anheuser-Busch InBev To Cut 1,400 US Jobs

BRUSSELS, Belgium — Anheuser-Busch InBev announced Monday it would cut some 1,400 U.S. jobs _ or another 6 percent of its U.S. work force _ to help save the world's largest brewer at least $1.5 billion a year.

It said three-quarters of the jobs to disappear will go from Anheuser's North American headquarters in St. Louis, both at downtown offices and its Sunset Hills campus.

The job cuts go beyond plans Anheuser-Busch announced this summer to streamline costs, before it agreed to be taken over by Belgium-based InBev.

The company said the job losses will help it save at least $1.5 billion a year by 2011 and cope with a "challenging economy." Most of the cuts will be made by the end of the year.

Anheuser-Busch provides half of America's beer but it has not managed to expand around the world as fast as InBev _ a Belgian-Brazilian hybrid that owns hundreds of local brands but few real stars.

InBev SA wrapped up its takeover of Anheuser-Busch Cos. Inc last month after a bitter takeover battle turned sweet with a higher $52 billion takeover bid.

Anheuser-Busch had 8,600 salaried workers this summer and had planned to reduce that by 10 to 15 percent, mostly by offering some 1,000 employees a voluntary early retirement package. That aimed to save the brewer some $1 billion a year.

The new job losses mean the brewer will lose around a quarter of the salaried workers it had at the start of 2008.

More than 250 unfilled jobs will be slashed and an extra 415 contractor positions will be eliminated. About a quarter of the jobs to go will be in field and brewery locations, it said.

"To keep the business strong and competitive, this is a necessary but difficult move for the company," said Anheuser-Busch president David A. Peacock.

Workers who form part of a trade union at the company's 12 breweries in North America will not be affected. InBev had pledged not to close any of the breweries as long as it was not forced to pay any extra taxes.

The redundancies will cost the company $197 million before tax, mostly in severance payments and pension benefits.

The takeover deal gave InBev control over America's iconic Budweiser beer _ and gave Bud the chance to sell more widely into rapidly growing markets in Latin America, eastern Europe and Asia where InBev draws most of its profit. Beer sales in North America and Europe are slowly declining.

InBev is renowned for its tight control of costs since the company was formed in a 2004 merger between Brazil's AmBev and Belgium's Interbrew. The Brazilian management team who headed the company had a sharp focus on costs that came as a shock to the European business.

Comments

[LAdude83]

The foreigners come in ... the foreigners buy us out ... the foreigners fire our workers ... America declines.

I'm not xenophobic but can we please stop selling ourselves out?

MADE IN USA. WHAT A CONCEPT.

[kidflash]

I am a progressive in St. Louis (yes I know it is very lonely being "the only one") and I can tell you this is going to wreak havoc on the local economy. Unemployment here already matches the national average.

[outofhere]

AB ruined one of my favorite beers, Rolling Rock. Bud tastes like horrible and Bud Lite? Blah! The Busch family will live happily w/out its breweries and will never see any of the little people who get laid off. The lbiggest loser will be the St. Louis arts and other charities supported by AB.

[drumz]

Your beer is the worst. Never drink it unless it's free and there is nothing else.
Watered down with that weird aftertaste that Palin would probably recognize as moose p.iss.

[Mattyhorn]

I got your "icons"...right here.

Corporate brands are tools designed to sell you stuff. That's it. Seek out quality. Encourage originality and innovation. Demand substance over style. Help your neighbors' businesses. That's what built this country.

Leave the symbols for the symbol-minded.

[KillTheMessenger]

It takes me wonder it took more than 1400 people in total to brew this swill that calls itself a beer.

[harriettubman]

I don't know the circumstances behind why this company was sold in the first place. I'm appalled shareholders approved it.

IMBev is known to buy a company and bring it down to just a skeleton of what it was. AB offered not only jobs to St. Louis but free and pay tourist attractions too. What a shame. Another foreign country owning such a great company.

The "For Sale" sign was posted on the U.S when Bush took office.

[shyamg22]

everyone drink local brews! not only is it a better product, you are supporting your economies as well. best of both worlds..a no-brainer really.

[KCFreedom]

Isn't globalization GRAND?

Hurts in reverse again?

I have no sympathy for the swill from A-B, but I do sympathize with St. Louis for the loss of probably good-paying jobs. The other side of the state is hurting, too.

Both Kansas City and St. Louis are seeing all of their traditional home corporate tenants leaving or getting sold down the river(s). They both are turning into corporate outlet malls.

[ChickenLips]

Anheuser-Busch was American as apple pie. There's a lot of idle factories in China right now, they should be making Bud and shipping it to America! Althought that sounds stupid, I'm sure the greedy MBAs at InBev are thinking it. What a shame that a profitable enterprise is shedding high-paying American jobs to be even more profitable.

Oh well, that's price we have to pay to live in a totally free and capitalist society. As long as I have a job I'm still a winner. If you don't believe in giving business owners total freedom to exploit everybody for profit, you are a terrorist! ;-) Have the conservatives successfully brainwashed me into utter stupidity? Not!

[neocon6716]

You can't be serious! "The price we pay to live in a totally capitalist society, LMAO"

Do you even read? It's the USSA. So free markets are are the bailouts going on now on a daily basis. Give me a break.

It's morons like you that probably voted for Bush that are destroying America.

[hortonhearsawho]

Sell the corporate horses...

[pons1595]

America's worst drug: alcohol! Drink this in:
More than 100,000 U.S. deaths are caused by excessive alcohol consumption each year.

At least once a year, the guidelines for low risk drinking are exceeded by an estimated 74% of male drinkers and 72% of female drinkers aged 21 and older.

65% of youth surveyed said that they got the alcohol they drink from family and friends.

Nearly 14 million Americans meet diagnostic criteria for alcohol use disorders.

Youth who drink alcohol are 50 times more likely to use cocaine than those who never drink alcohol.

Across people of all ages, males are four times as likely as females to be heavy drinkers.

More than 18% of Americans experience alcohol abuse or alcohol dependence at some time in their lives.

Traffic crashes are the greatest single cause of death for persons aged 6"33. About 45% of these fatalities are in alcohol-related crashes.

Underage drinking costs the United States more than $58 billion every year " enough to buy every public school student a state-of-the-art computer.

Alcohol is the most commonly used drug among young people.

Problem drinkers average four times as many days in the hospital as nondrinkers " mostly because of drinking-related injuries.

Alcohol kills 6½ times more youth than all other illicit drugs combined.

Concerning the past 30 days, 50% of high school seniors report drinking, with 32% report being drunk at least once.

[JustNotTrue]

and yet marijuana is illegal.

Seems to me they want to kill off a certain percentage of the population each year......perhaps that is why with GM foods they are doing it slowly.

Kids now can not be expected to live as long as their parents.

[hortonhearsawho]

Morning, hand me a beer there bud.

[harriettubman]

I'm not against alcohol or guns. We have laws in place for alcohol restriction yet the people committing the majority of the DUI's are adults. Many with several. After the second DUI, if the first one didn't injure anyone, jail time of a minimum two years should be enforced.

As for guns, we have laws for that too. However, someone has to do something about guns being sold in the inner cities where gangs outgun the police. I'm quite sure the NRA doesn't agree with that yet if someone brings up gun control they vote against the candidate or talk about their rights being taken away. If there was more control, people wouldn't have to arm themselves in their own homes for fear it will be invaded.
Guns in the inner city are like drugs coming into this country over our unsecure borders. Someone is getting paid.

[sonoffestus]

After reading that, I need drink! Maybe it's the time to legalize pot?

[MuchMadness]

Maybe the free traders are wrong.

[sonoffestus]

Hey, does anyone know if Jone's Brewing in Western PA is still turning out brew? My wife and I used to drive to the brewery and buy their stuff right off the loading dock. Their everyday brew was called Stoney's. It was outstanding beer. They had other seasonal brews that were excellent as well. If you are a beer lover and in the western PA, it would be worth your while to track some down. I'm 3000 miles away and buy local, but will always remember Stoney's. I am thirsty, have to go....................

[planetjeffy]

I've heard you can look up stuff like that on the google.

[crazylikeafox]

But isn't it more fun just throwing it out and seeing if anyone knows?

[hortonhearsawho]

not after a couple of sixpacks..

[deminmo]

Wanna bet some of those jobs lost in St. Louis will
reappear later on overseas? This company used to
take care of it's employees, and in turn employees had to
die before they were replaced! Money was good and
there were many times the company was a good neighbor.
No one who lives or had lived in the St. Louis area, doubted
lot's of jobs would be lost when Inbev came along.
Just what is needed, lost jobs, more houses in foreclosure,
less money into the local economy.