Kraft Heinz announced Wednesday it will eliminate about 2,500 jobs in the U.S. and Canada —including at least 165 from Madison’s Oscar Mayer corporate offices — as part of a plan to cut costs following the recently completed merger of the two food companies.
It does not appear that any of the cuts will affect the meat processing side of Oscar Mayer’s Madison operations. Oscar Mayer reached its peak employment levels in Madison in the 1970s with about 4,000 employees. Today, that number is just 1,200.
A company spokesman said affected workers were notified in person. That includes about 700 employees at Kraft’s Northfield, Ill., headquarters.
Executives expect to save $1.5 billion in annual costs by 2017 with the cost-cutting measures. Kraft Heinz Co. has a total of nearly 46,600 employees.
