ST. LOUIS — A massive sales and marketing shake-up at Anheuser-Busch resulted Thursday in the layoffs of 90 employees spread over 25 states, including four corporate vice-presidents, sources told the Post-Dispatch.
Jim Brickey, A-B vice president of people, confirmed in a brief statement that "a small number of salaried sales employees" were told their jobs were eliminated. The company declined to address the cuts specifically.
But according to two knowledgeable sources, those let go from Anheuser-Busch InBev's U.S. division included workers responsible for handling every facet of the brewer's national sales, from dealing with the demands of large retailers to making sure individual bars had the latest Budweiser tap handle.
Missouri lost the greatest number of jobs with 17, followed by California with 12, Texas and Arizona with seven, and Illinois with six.
The job cuts are part of a plan that A-B unveiled to workers and the public on Tuesday. The plan would reshape the way the nation's dominant brewer sells its beer. A greater focus will be placed on core brands such as Budweiser and Bud Light. The number of sales regions would grow to eight from five, with new offices in St. Louis, Denver and Charlotte, N.C.
The plan was known internally by the code name "Kashi," a reference to the cereal with the "Go lean" slogan.
On Tuesday, A-B President Dave Peacock declined to confirm that layoffs were coming but said he recognized the degree of uncertainty some workers had "about their standing within the company." A-B said it hoped to have details settled by late March. Peacock said the changes were aimed at making A-B "optimally organized and as efficient as possible."
A source knowledgeable about A-B's plan said that close to 450 jobs eventually would be cut, and that the 90 layoffs in sales were the first of several small waves.
Brickey said in his statement that the sales and marketing shake-up "will result in both adding and eliminating positions, using unfilled positions to minimize reductions."
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