The company said the pandemic is a “catalyst” for organizational change.
Coca-Cola confirmed to ABC News on Friday that it will reduce about 2,200 jobs globally as part of a plan to reorganize the company.
About 1,200 of these job cuts will be in the United States, and about 500 of them will be in the Atlanta area, where the company is headquartered, according to Scott Leith, the company’s vice president of global external and financial communications.
“The Coca-Cola Company is on a journey to transform the way it operates so that we can emerge stronger from the pandemic and accelerate our growth,” Leith told ABC News in a statement.
Job cuts are part of the company’s overall workforce, which was 86,200 at the end of 2019. Its number in the US was 10,400 at the end of 2019.
“The pandemic was not a cause of these changes, but it was a catalyst for the company to move faster,” Leith added.
The company initially announced reorganization plans in August, and Leith said the work “has been ongoing and will continue until 2021.”
Leith said he expects compensation programs to lead to $ 350 million to $ 550 million.
Coca-Cola announced separately earlier this year that it will cut a handful of brands by the end of the year, including Odwalla juices, Zico coconut water and Diet Coke Feisty Cherry.