Procter & Gamble announces job cuts at Puerto Rican plant

The cuts could be the first of many across the globe as P&G attempts to refine unprofitable operations in a bid to cut down costs and make up for falling sales.

According to an AP report, the plant at Cayey produces Olay skin care products and Vicks cold medicines, which are exported all over the Americas.

Job cuts a part of facility restructuring​

The company said that the job cuts would mainly effect part-time workers over the course of the next four months and serves as part of a broader restructuring plan for the facility.

The company employs a total of 700 staff at its various locations in Puerto Rico, and the Cayey plant is its largest operation on the island, which is an unincorporated territory of the United States.

Procter & Gamble had 138,000 workers worldwide at the end of 2008, ranking it as the world’s largest consumer goods company and the 79th largest Fortune 500 company with revenues of $76.47bn.

P&G has so far escaped big job cuts​

Although major restructuring programs implemented in the face of falling revenues have led to significant job losses at major cosmetic players such as Avon, Revlon and Estee Lauder, Procter & Gamble has so far escaped major staff cut backs.

This is because, following years of market-leading sales growth and business expansion, the company’s finances remain in a healthy state.

However, for the second quarter ending in December 2008, the company announced its first quarterly decline in years, as sales fell 3.2 per cent to reach $20.37bn on the back of a strong dollar and declining consumer demand.

As a result P&G is conservative about its prospects for the rest of the year and recently cut its sales forecast for the fiscal year ending in June to between 2 and 5 percent.