Colgate Revamp Cuts 4,440 Jobs, Boosts R&D
Colgate-Palmolive will cut 4,440 jobs as part of a four-year restructuring plan announced yesterday.
Colgate hopes to maintain volume growth, improve profits, speed up product and marketing launches and further globalize advertising and sourcing. Colgate expects to save $250 to $300 million per year by 2009.
The company will expand new-product development worldwide and intensify its focus on consumer research, especially in-store shopper data. It’ll bump up R&D spending, especially for oral care.
New York-based Colgate also will consolidate its sales force in mature markets and upgrade marketing and sales staffs in high-growth markets including Eastern Europe, Russia, China and parts of Latin America and Asia.
The expected job cuts account for 12% of Colgate’s worldwide staff of 37,000.
