Hershey to layoff 15 percent of global employees

On Tuesday, The Hershey Co. announced this week it plans to cut 15 percent of its global workforce. The cuts could affect up to 2,700 workers.

The Pennsylvania-based candy maker has lowered sales expectations largely due to what it called “changes in U.S. shopping habits.”

Hershey published a jargon-laden press release about the layoffs, entitled, “Hershey Details Strategy For Continued Growth.” It read, in part:

“Hershey has tremendous assets – its iconic brands, remarkable people and a history of executional excellence – that position the company well to deliver top- and bottom-line growth,” said Michele Buck, incoming President and Chief Executive Officer, The Hershey Company. “We’re making progress against the ‘Margin for Growth’ related initiatives that should give us the flexibility to invest in certain parts of our business. Our objective is to ensure that we always have the right level of innovation, marketing plans and consumer and customer expertise to drive net sales growth, especially in our North America confectionery and snacks business. In addition, we’re working to return our international businesses to profitability as soon as possible. Combined, these efforts should enable the company to achieve its adjusted operating profit margin target of about 22% to 23% by year end 2019.”