Citigroup to Cut 11,000 Jobs

Citigroup’s announcement that it will slash 11,000 jobs worldwide underscores its major contraction since nearly collapsing during the financial crisis and its continuing battle against high operating costs and persistently sluggish markets.

The cost-cutting fervor, including tens of thousands of Wall Street jobs slashed in recent years, is expected to continue at Citigroup and other banks as they combat sagging stock prices, lackluster revenue and new regulations that damp profits.

The cuts at Citigroup, many coming from its global consumer banking business, reflect a new emphasis on aiming at commercial banking jobs, some bank analysts said, rather than mainly eliminating investment banking positions.

With pressure mounting from shareholders, Citi has been trying to bolster returns, in part by working through a glut of bad loans and systematically dismantling some businesses. The job cuts amount to 4 percent of the work force and will bring the company’s head count down to about 250,000, down by a third since before the financial crisis in 2007.

HSBC Cut 30,000 Jobs in Last Two Years

HSBC has reduced its number of staff by almost 30,000 in the last two years and said more job cuts are likely across the bank to achieve its cost efficiency targets.

The bank had 266,700 staff at the end of September, down from 296,000 at the end of 2010 and down about 21,000 this year.

HSBC Chief Executive Stuart Gulliver said about 15,000 of the reduction were due to disposals by the bank and he expected more cuts before the end of 2013 to improve cost efficiency. "We are probably likely to see the headcount reduce further...in terms of the organic reduction, there's still some way to go," he told reporters on a conference call.

Gulliver said in May 2011 he would cut about 30,000 jobs as part of a restructuring plan.

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UBS Said to Widen Job Cuts to 400 at Investment Bank

UBS AG (UBSN) is preparing another round of job cuts across its investment bank in Europe as Chief Executive Officer Sergio Ermotti tries to overhaul the firm, two people with knowledge of the matter said.

UBS is considering cuts in equities and fixed income as it trims its merger advisory staff, bringing total reductions to about 400, or 10 percent of the unit’s front-office employees in the region, said the people, who asked not to be identified because the review is private. The cuts are part of plans to pare back headcount globally, said one of the people.

Ermotti, 52, said in a memo to staff last week he will take “all actions necessary to tackle the current challenging market environment and paradigm shift” in banking and will continue “remodelling” UBS. The Zurich-based firm, which said last year it would trim about 1,600 jobs at the unit, has already reached the staffing goal it set for the end of 2013 as the bank shrinks its securities business to concentrate on wealth management.

Chicago : Navistar to lay off 200 workers

Navistar International Corp. said today that it expects 200 employees to participate in the company's voluntary separation plan this quarter, on top of the 500 who did so in the third quarter.

The Lisle, Illinois-based truck and engine maker also said it may sell "non-core businesses" as it reported a paltry third-quarter profit that nevertheless beat expectations. Navistar's shares rose 17.4 percent to close at $23.97.

Navistar, operating under an interim CEO installed last week, earned $84 million, or $1.22 per share, for the three months ended July 31. That was off more than 90 percent from the year-earlier's $1.4 billion, or $18.24 per share, which included a $1.48 billion tax benefit. Revenue dropped 6 percent, to $3.3 billion, but exceeded Wall Street forecasts by 10 percent.

Navistar is expected to lose $300 million for the fiscal year ending in October, compared with a $1.8-billion tax-advantaged profit the previous fiscal year. Revenue is expected to slip nine percent, to $12.7 billion.

"Clearly we are not pleased with these results," interim CEO Lewis Campbell said in a statement. "I believe we can accelerate the pace of progress to deliver significant improvements during the next 12 to 18 months."
The former Textron Inc. CEO succeeded Dan Ustian, who resigned under pressure after 37 years with the company.

Fiscal 2013 earnings are projected at $102 million on revenue of $13.9 billion.
The company is also boosting efforts to lower discretionary spending and lower its material costs further.
During an earnings call today, Mr. Campbell said that Navistar would focus on North American truck, engine and parts operations, where quality, cost and consumer satisfaction are priorities. “Quite simply, we need to step up the pace and address our problems as quickly as we can,” he said.

Another worrisome target: Navistar's $3.2 billion in unfunded pension and health care liabilities.
“I think we have a plan to possibly address that in a different way,” he said, without offering specifics. “It's not something we're kind of looking the other way and pretending it's not there.” He also said, "We got a really good handle on cash."

Although Mr. Campbell, 66, has an interim title, Navistar hasn't outlined search plans for a more-permanent CEO. He said he and his wife reached an agreement over the weekend to buy a house in the area.

“So as they say in poker, 'I'm all in.'” He added: "I did plenty of due diligence, and while there are a host of issues that need to be resolved, there was nothing I felt was insurmountable when deciding whether or not to pursue this opportunity.”
He told analysts he has not spoken with large shareholders.

Chicago: Trading firm Getco cuts 40 workers

Getco LLC, one of Chicago's largest trading firms, last week cut about 40 employees globally, including at least one top manager, as the firm realigns its focus and operations under a new CEO, according to sources familiar with the reduction.

Among those cut was managing director Edward Boyle, 49, who was based in Chicago and had business development duties across the firm, the sources said. He had joined Getco in late 2010 from NYSE Euronext, where he had overseen that exchange company's options business.

His departure follows the exit of several other senior managers in the past year, including David Babulak, who was also a managing director; Michael Rauchman, who was the company's chief technology officer; Brian Nigito, who was a top manger in New York; and Patrick Tray, who was a trading manager for the firm in Chicago.

A Getco spokeswoman declined to comment.

Getco, a top electronic market-maker at the New York Stock Exchange that is active in 50 markets around the world, is restructuring the firm and its focus in the wake of promoting Daniel Coleman as CEO in February.

Mr. Coleman, who was previously the company's global head of equities and client services, stepped up as the company's Chicago co-founders, Stephen Schuler and Dan Tierney, stepped back. The company has said previously that it has about 400 employees.

While Mr. Schuler and Mr. Tierney still own part of the company, they started answering to an outside investor in the firm when Greenwich, Connecticut-based General Atlantic took a minority stake in 2007.

Getco is not only a market maker on the exchanges, it also own stakes in several electronic ones, including the Chicago-based Eris Exchange, Bats Exchange and NYSE Liffe U.S.

Getco was founded in 1999 and has 400 employees.

Valued at $1 Billion, On Way to IPO, Evernote to Hire 150

Evernote plans to hire as many as 150 new employees this year after raising $70 million in new venture capital earlier this month. The company was valued by investors including Meritech Capital and CBC Capital at $1 billion, putting it in the rarefied company of privately-held tech companies like Pinterest and Dropbox that have entered the billion dollar club.

Founded in 2006, Evernote makes computer and smartphone software that lets users organize and save content from the Web. "Our goal is to help you remember everything," said Vice President of Products Phil Constantinou. The company, which has 150 employees, has more than 25 million users across desktop and mobile, Constantinou said.

Constantinou plans to hire at least 70 new employees for the product group. Open positions will include user experience and user interface designers, front-end and back-end engineers, data analysts with a machine learning background, and iOS and Android developers. Evernote will also be hiring for its marketing group and business development.

Employee perks include house cleaning, unlimited vacation time, free lunch, and public transit subsidies. The company is considering buying its own shuttle buses to ferry employees to and from work as many other Silicon Valley companies do.

Cash and equity compensation is competitive, Constantinou said. He declined to discuss the company's total revenue but said that the company generates revenue of over $1.5 million a month from credit card payments on the company's premium products, and additional revenue from partnerships where the company's application is bundled with that of other software makers.

The company's chief executive, Phil Libin, has said that the company aims to go public by the end of 2013. However, an IPO isn't something that employees spend much time thinking about, said Constantinou. Employees have already been able to cash in shares on secondary markets, he said, and they'll continue to have such opportunities before an IPO.

The company's culture is design-centric, Constantinou said. The company determines the user experience it wants to create, then figures out how to accomplish it technically. "Designers play an instrumental role and engineers seek out the designers because they know their work isn't going to be valued if it doesn't look beautiful," he said.

Canada's RIM to cut at least 2000 jobs

(Reuters) - Research In Motion Ltd is preparing for a major restructuring beginning in the next couple of weeks that will see it eliminate at least 2,000 jobs worldwide, the Globe and Mail reported on Saturday, citing unnamed sources.

The Canadian newspaper, citing several people close to the company, reported that the next round is layoffs is said to be planned for around June 1 - a day before the BlackBerry smartphone maker's first quarter ends - but some expect the announcement even earlier.

One source close to the company told Reuters the impending layoffs could hit as many as 6,000 people and affect RIM's legal, marketing, sales, operations, and human resources divisions.

"The strategic question is: are you accelerating into a better future or shrinking to a niche operation," said the source, who declined to be identified due to the sensitive nature of the job cuts.

A RIM spokeswoman contacted by Reuters declined to comment on the report.

But she pointed to comments that new Chief Executive Thorsten Heins and Chief Financial Officer Brian Bidulka made on RIM's last earnings call about plans to streamline operations and save $1 billion in the fiscal year.

The spokeswoman said RIM now has about 16,500 staff globally. This is down from a peak closer to 20,000.

RIM reported a fourth-quarter loss in March, when the new CEO announced the initial steps in a strategic overhaul. Heins took over from longtime co-CEOs Mike Lazaridis and Jim Balsillie in January.

Once the dominant player in the wireless e-mail sector, RIM has lost market share due to fierce competition from Apple Inc's iPhone and phones running on Google Inc's Android software.

RIM has already been through one round of restructuring. Last July it announced plans to cut about 11 percent of its workforce, or 2,000 jobs.

A string of high-level employees have departed RIM recently, including global head of sales Patrick Spence, who was set to take a senior job at audio company Sonos.

Several sources close to the company told Reuters RIM had been letting more junior staff go for several months in what has come to be known internally as 'Goodbye Thursdays,' because the cuts typically occurred on that day of the week.

The job cuts have failed to boost the company's stock. On Thursday RIM shares hit a multi-year low of C$10.87 on the Toronto Stock Exchange. The stock changed hands for more than C$150 in 2008.

AOL's Patch To Ax 20

AOL's Patch.com, the online local-news network whose high costs have made it a lightning rod for criticism of AOL's strategy, is laying off about 20 people as part of a broader restructuring.

Patch will consolidate its four geographic zones into three by integrating the South and East zones, allowing it cut some managers. No sites will be closed or merged and no local editors or ad managers will be affected. Patch, which has nearly 1,000 full-time journalists, announced the restructuring in a note to staff Tuesday morning.

"After implementing a more efficient field structure earlier this year, we have seen an impressive boost in both traffic and revenue," said Jon Brod, chief executive of Patch. "With an eye on our overarching business goals, streamlining our field management structure not only gives us additional operating leverage, but also allows us to better serve our users and out communities. This is the next step in Patch's strategy to win."

The high costs of keeping Patch running has become the centerpiece of dissident investor Starboard Value LP's campaign against AOL Chief Executive Tim Armstrong's strategy for the Internet company. Armstrong has promised to cut costs at Patch this year and get it to profitability by next year.

After expanding its presence from 30 towns to more than 850 towns in the past two years, Patch's annual loss has soared to more than $100 million--more than twice AOL's operating profit in 2011.

Starboard, which is running a proxy contest to win several seats on AOL's board at next month's annual meeting, argues Patch should be closed, sold or put into a joint venture where someone else covers some of the costs. Armstrong isn't backing off.

"Patch continues to deliver on its original mission and is on the right path for success in 2012 and beyond," he said in a statement. "AOL is executing a bold turnaround and Patch addresses a large and exciting market for our shareholders."

The cuts are the latest move made by Armstrong pre-empting Starboard's criticisms. In April AOL struck a deal to sell a portfolio of patents to Microsoft Corp. for $1.1 billion, shortly after Starboard had highlighted the patents as an underutilized asset. AOL also decided to return to shareholders all the cash raised from the sale, as Starboard demanded, after initially saying it would only return part of the money.

This story first appeared on WSJ.com

Hewlett Packard Considers Cutting at Least 25,000 Jobs

Hewlett-Packard is considering cutting its workforce by 8 to 10 percent, or a minimum of 25,000 jobs, sources familiar with the matter told Reuters, as newly installed CEO Meg Whitman strives to return the storied Silicon Valley institution to growth. 

The job cuts, which could include retirements, are under discussion but have not yet been finalized, several people familiar with the situation told Reuters. Th e sources did not elaborate on a time frame or other details. 

HP, which employs more than 300,000 people across the globe, could announce the layoffs as soon as next week when it unveils quarterly results, said the sources, who asked to remain anonymous because the plan has not been made public. Analysts have been expecting job cuts in the wake of Whitman's plan to merge the company's personal computer and printer divisions.

Illinois : Donnelley leads list of 700-plus local layoffs

(Crain's) — Seven Illinois companies have told the state their plans to cut more than 700 employees by the end of the year, with most of the layoffs taking place before June.

R.R. Donnelley & Sons Co. reported the biggest cuts, eliminating all 207 jobs at its plant in Mendota. Last week the Chicago-based printing services provider announced it will close the plant, part of a restructuring as the company struggles to survive in an increasingly digital world.

The cuts were reported in the monthly Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act report released by the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity. Other layoffs include:

• Sugar Grove-based AeroCare Medical Transport System Inc., an air ambulance and Medevac services provider, notified the state of 81 layoffs. A spokeswoman said the firm told the state to satisfy the law in case it does close a facility, but has not yet determined whether it will do so.
• Diversapack LLC, a packaging company headquartered in Commack, N.Y., will cut 90 jobs when it closes its Marengo location.
• Calmark Inc., a Chicago-based direct mail facility, will eliminate 102 positions.
• Grubb & Ellis Co., the Santa Ana, Calif.-based real estate advisory firm, laid off 74 Illinois employees at the end of March. Last week, brokerage company BGC Partners Inc. received approval to move forward with its acquisition of the firm, with the deal expected to close in the coming days, according to reports.
• York, Pa.-based plastics manufacturer Graham Packaging Co. will cut 81 jobs when it shutters its West Chicago location.
• Family Service & Community Mental Health Center, located in McHenry, notified the state it will cease operations after April 30; 98 employees will lose their jobs there. CEO Lori Nelson said the health center is currently working on a transfer of services agreement with LaSalle-based North Central Behavioral Health Systems, with about 80 of its employees expected to be rehired.

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Chicago: Acco Brands trims 145 jobs

(Crain's) — Acco Brands Corp. trimmed about 145 jobs last month as it realigned one of its business units.

Eliminating the jobs, in direct sales and customer service, will result in a pretax charge of about $7 million for Lincolnshire-based Acco Brands, which makes office products under various brand names, including Day-Timer, Swingline, Quartet and Wilson Jones.

The decision to eliminate those jobs was unrelated to Acco's upcoming merger with a division of MeadWestvaco Corp., according to an Acco spokesman. That merger, announced in November, will give MeadWestvaco Corp. shareholders 50.5 percent ownership in the combined company.

"This is a completely separate initiative," the spokesman said of the job cuts. "The sales and servicing of large office equipment needed a refreshed business model."

The cuts, which primarily took place in the United States, represent less than 4 percent of Acco's workforce.

Acco said the job cuts should save the company a total of $8 million, according to a document filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Illinois : jobs on the chopping block at 10 local companies

(Crain's) — Ten companies have notified the state they have cut or plan to cut more than 1,400 jobs in the coming months, with the majority of layoffs taking place by the end of May.

Near the top of the list is Archer Daniels Midland Co., which shed 207 employees at the end of February. Earlier this year, the Decatur-based company said it planned to trim about 1,200 jobs from its global workforce, many of which were tied to plant closings in Iowa, North Dakota and Texas.



The layoffs were reported in the monthly Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act report released by the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity.

Other job cuts in the report include:

• StarTek USA Inc., a Greeley, Colo.-based business process outsourcing company, will eliminate 258 positions at its Decatur office next month.

• Chicago-based frozen food manufacturer Appetizer's And Inc. will cease operations at its plant on April 26, laying off all 148 employees. Mark Shircel, the company's director of corporate human resources, said the closing was the result of a downturn in business.

• Insurance provider MetLife Inc., headquartered in New York, will shutter its MetLife Home Loans offices in Oak Brook and Itasca, cutting a total of 132 jobs. In January, the company announced it is getting out of the mortgage business, which accounts for a fraction of its overall operations, a spokesman said.

• Buffalo Grove-based Equable Ascent Financial LLC, a debt-acquisition firm, will also close, eliminating 131 positions.

• Alberto-Culver USA, which was acquired by European consumer products maker Unilever last fall, will shed 121 employees. In December, Unilever announced plans to shut down the Alberto-Culver plant in Melrose Park sometime in 2013, with about 800 employees expected to be cut or transferred.

• Walnut Creek, Calif.-based Central Garden and Pet, which manufactures lawn and garden products and pet supplies, will close its Elk Grove Village production site, eliminating 90 positions. A spokeswoman said the company is closing the facility because a second production site in Franklin, Wis., is under capacity. Two employees will move to a corporate office in Schaumburg, while the rest will be able to interview at the Wisconsin location.

• Playboy Enterprises Inc. will cut 56 employees when it moves its headquarters from Chicago to Los Angeles.

• Nike Inc. will temporarily lay off 160 employees at its Niketown location on Michigan Avenue during a renovation.

• And in addition to the 327 job cuts it announced in previous months, Olin Corp., a Clayton, Mo.-based maker of copper alloys and ammunition, will cut another 104 employees due to a relocation.

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Sears laying off 100 at Hoffman Estates, Illinois HQ

Sears Holdings Corp., the beneficiary of a just-passed special state subsidy, is laying off 100 workers at its Hoffman Estates headquarters.

A spokesman for the big but troubled retailer on Thursday confirmed that workers in "a variety of departments" are being notified that their jobs are gone.

"I can confirm that we are laying off about 100 people today," spokesman Chris Brathwaite said. "These decisions are never easy, but they are necessary as part of our efforts to transform the company."

The layoffs will take effect immediately.

Mr. Brathwaite said the layoffs do not violate the terms of a $150 million payroll tax credit for Sears that was approved by the General Assembly in December after it threatened to move its headquarters out of state.

"It's important to know that under the legislation that was passed, if we don't meet our obligations, we receive no benefits," he said. "We're focused on improving our business and continuing to be a strong, contributing member of the Illinois business community."

The legislation, which authorizes $15 million a year in payroll tax credits over the next 10 years, does not go into effect until the next fiscal year, Mr. Brathwaite said. And the job levels specified in the legislation are well below the figure Sears will hit even with today's layoffs.

The company employs about 6,000 workers in Hoffman Estates.

Asked if the layoffs violate the spirit of the new legislation, Mr. Brathwaite said, "absolutely not."

Under the legislation, the state also extended the life of a special property tax district that benefits the company.

Jewel-Osco cutting corporate jobs in Chicago

(Crain's) — Jewel-Osco will eliminate 20 jobs from its Chicago corporate office as part of a broader cost-cutting effort from its Supervalu Inc. parent. The losses will affect Jewel's store support center in Itasca, and no store-level associate jobs will be eliminated, according to a Supervalu spokesman.

Minneapolis-based Supervalu plans to trim 800 jobs throughout the company, the majority of which will take place by the end of the company's fiscal year Feb. 25. The reductions include both current positions and open jobs that won't be filled.

"These reductions are necessary to help further strengthen and accelerate Supervalu's business turnaround in a very competitive marketplace," Supervalu CEO Craig Herkert said in a statement. "While the announcement of a workforce reduction is difficult news to share, due to its direct impact on our associates, these changes will allow us to better connect with customers and put more authority in the hands of people who interact more closely with our customers."

Last month, Supervalu reported a dismal third quarter, posting a $202 million loss compared to a profit of $109 million in the year-ago period. The grocer also cut its full-year outlook based on the poor performance.

At the time, Mr. Herkert said that the company had "invested heavily in promotional activities that proved to be less than effective." He added that the company's "performance is still not close to my expectations and we continue to take action to change the trajectory of our business."

Supervalu stock was essentially unchanged after the layoff news, trading at $6.93 midmorning, but has been circling its 52-week low of $6.26 ever since last month's earnings report.

Abbott cutting 700 from workforce

(Crain's) — Abbott Laboratories announced today that it is cutting jobs, including in Illinois, as part of a restructuring effort.

The medical device and drugmaker said it will eliminate 700 jobs in the United States and Puerto Rico, according to the Chicago Tribune. "Fewer than 200" of those cuts will come from the Chicago area.
Abbott's workforce in the six-county Chicago area totals an estimated 13,000, according to Crain's list of the largest local employers. Its worldwide workforce is an estimated 90,000.

The job cuts announcement came after Abbott reported a 12 percent increase in fourth-quarter profit Wednesday, as the blockbuster anti-inflammatory drug Humira continued to dominate the company's performance with double-digit sales growth.

Company shares were down $1.19, or 2.1 percent, at $54.79 in midday trading.
In October, Abbott surprised investors and analysts with the announcement that it would spin off its branded drug business, including Humira. Company executives said the split would allow investors to separately value Abbott's businesses, which also include baby formula, generic drugs and medical implants.
Wednesday's results highlighted the rationale for the split, with top-selling drug Humira dominating the company's results, contributing $2.18 billion, or over 20 percent, of sales.

While Humira has been the key to Abbott's growth, it has also a weighed on the company's stock, overshadowing performance of its other businesses. The drug, which is used to treat psoriasis and rheumatoid arthritis, loses patent protection in 2016, and no obvious successor has appeared in the company's pipeline. The split-up frees Abbott from the risks and obligations of developing innovative pharmaceutical drugs, leaving the company with a more predictable business built around nutritional formula, generic drugs and heart stents.
Abbott earned $1.62 billion, or $1.02 per share, up from $1.44 billion, or 92 cents per share, in the prior-year period. Excluding one-time items the company earned $1.45 per share, up from $1.30 in the same period a year earlier. Total company sales grew 4.1 percent to $10.38 billion.
Analysts polled by FactSet expect fourth-quarter earnings per share of $1.44 on revenue of $10.59 billion.
For 2012, the North Chicago company expects to earn $4.95 to $5.05 per share, compared with the average analyst estimate of $5.02 per share.

The company's branded drug business posted sales of $4.78 billion for the period, an increase of 6.7 percent. The business, which includes the cholesterol drugs Trilipix and Niaspan among other treatments, is scheduled to become a separate business before the end of 2012. The new company will have revenue of roughly $18 billion.

Among Abbott's remaining businesses, generic drugs slipped 4.6 percent to $1.39 billion. Nutritionals rose 8.6 percent to $1.56 billion while sales of the company's stents and other heart devices were roughly flat at $826 million.

Kraft to cut 1,600 jobs in U.S., Canada

(Crain's) — Kraft Foods Inc. said it will cut 1,600 positions in the U.S. and Canada as it prepares to split into two companies. The processed food maker employs 46,500 people worldwide, which means the layoffs will reduce headcount by 3.5%.

Kraft also said it expects its fourth-quarter earnings to total $1.95 a share, with operating earnings at $2.28 a share, a penny more than it had forecast. The company said "organic revenue" rose 6.5% in the period, thanks to mid-single digits increases in North America and Europe and double digits in developing markets. The company had predicted organic sales growth at 6%. Kraft plans to formally report fourth-quarter results on Feb. 21.

The Northfield-based company will reorganize its domestic sales team, consolidate its U.S. management centers and trim the corporate and business units. About 40% of the cuts will be in sales, and about 20% will come from eliminating positions that already are vacant.

"When we announced our decision to create two world-class companies last August, we said both would be leaner, more competitive organizations," Kraft Chairman and CEO Irene Rosenfeld said in a statement. "For the past year, the North American team has been working to streamline operations to deliver sustainable top-tier performance and continue to invest in our iconic brands.”

Kraft will cut its U.S. management offices from four locations to two once the North American grocery company is spun off later this year.

Kraft's Glenview management center will close by the end of 2013 and Kraft's 440-employee beverage business in Tarrytown, N.Y., and its Planters unit in East Hanover, N.J., will move to the Chicago area by December 2012. Employees of the two East Coast units will have the option to transfer to the future company headquarters.

Kraft has two facilities in Glenview, the management center and a research and development complex; together they employ 1,378 people.

The headquarters of the global snack company will be based in the Chicago area at a site under consideration, the company said in the statement. The North American regional headquarters for the global snack company will be in the East Hanover campus.

"Having the majority of our business units together in one location will provide greater development opportunities for our people and will help us continue building our brands more efficiently and collaboratively," Tony Vernon, president of Kraft Foods North America and CEO of the future grocery company, said in a statement.

(Ms. Rosenfeld will become CEO of Kraft's international snack business.)

The company's Madison, Wis., management center which has 1,542 employees will continue as the site for its Oscar Mayer unit. Kraft also will retain operations in the Toronto area where it employs 2,864 employees.

“We finished 2011 with strong business momentum in each of our geographies," Ms. Rosenfeld said in announcing financial results. "Our virtuous cycle of investment continues to pay off around the world, despite a difficult operating environment. We expect our 2011 results will place us solidly among the top-tier of our peer group, and we remain on track to launch two industry-leading companies in 2012."

Kraft’s snack business will continue to use a direct store delivery model. The North American grocery company will contract local sales to Acosta Sales & Marketing for grocery and mass retail channels. Crossmark will continue to serve the grocery company in convenience stores.

Most of the U.S. retail sales employees will move to the North American region of the global snack company. The company expects to have both sales organizations complete by April 1.