By CATHERINE THORBECKE, ABC News(NEW YORK) — Coca-Cola confirmed to ABC News Friday that it was cutting approximately 2,200 jobs globally as part of a company reorganization plan.Some 1,200 of those job cuts will be in the U.S., 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 how it operates so we can emerge stronger from the pandemic and accelerate our growth,” Leith told ABC News in a statement.The job cuts account for a sliver of the company’s global headcount, which was 86,200 at the end of 2019. Its U.S. headcount was 10,400 at the end of 2019.”The pandemic was not a cause for these changes, but it has been a catalyst for the company to move faster,” Leith added.The company initially announced plans for a reorganization in August, and Leith said the work “has been ongoing and will continue into 2021.”Leith said they expect severance programs to result in expenses of $350 million to $550 million.Coca-Cola separately announced earlier this year that it was cutting a handful of its brands by the end of the year, including Odwalla juices, Zico coconut water and Diet Coke Feisty Cherry.Copyright © 2020, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.
