Cargill plans to slash roughly 8,000 jobs globally

Multinational food corporation Cargill said on Tuesday it plans to cut roughly five per cent of its staff, or about 8,000 jobs.

In a statement provided to CBC News, Cargill said the company set a long-term strategy earlier this year to evolve and strengthen its portfolio, which has led to cutting its global workforce.

"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 five per cent," Cargill's statement said.

Cargill, a nearly 160-year-old company headquartered in Minnesota, employs more than 8,000 people across Canada, its website states. One of its most high-profile operations north of the border is the meat-processing plant near High River, Alta., which employs roughly 2,200 workers and processes about 4,700 head of cattle per day.

Most of the company's job cuts will occur this year, Cargill president and CEO Brian Sikes said in a memo that was reviewed and reported on by Reuters on Tuesday. The company will try to keep the impact of cuts to its operations and frontline teams to a minimum, the memo added. The company is not sharing specific layoff numbers by country or location.

"They will focus on streamlining our organizational structure by removing layers, expanding the scope and responsibilities of our managers, and reducing duplication of work," Sikes said in the memo.