Minnesota-based food production giant Cargill is laying off approximately 5 percent of its global employees amid decreasing food prices.
According to Forbes, Cargill is the U.S.’s largest privately held company, and is the world’s largest agricultural commodities trader.
Commodity prices fell 4 percent in the third quarter of 2024 compared to the prior quarter, according to an analysis from the World Bank.
Cargill employs more than 160,000 people world-wide, meaning its estimated cuts will eliminate approximately 8,000 jobs.
The company told CNN on Monday that the layoffs were part of a “long-term strategy” set in stone earlier this year.
“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 company told CNN.
Cargill’s profits skyrocketed during the pandemic and the inflation that came afterwards as global instability kept food prices high. Now that grocery prices are dropping, the company is having to tighten its belt.
The company is also one of North America’s largest beef processors, and a declining cattle population in the US is only adding to Cargill’s financial worse.
In 2024, Cargill’s profits dropped to the lowest since 2016, according to a Forbes analysis. That report found that its profits had fallen to $2.48 billion, less than half of the $6.7 billion it made from 2021 to 2022.
Despite the layoffs, the company said in June that it planned to open a hub in Atlanta that would create 400 jobs for technicians and engineers.
“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,” Cargill said in a statement.
CEO Brian Sikes said in an internal memo that more information about the company’s restructuring will be announced on December 9.
