By Elizabeth Urban | December 4, 2024

The largest private company in the U.S. is quietly firing about 8,000 employees before Christmas as grocery prices fall across the country.

Cargill, a major ingredients business and food production company, has been hit hard after grocery prices dropped recently as crops the company trades, including wheat, corn and soybeans, hit new lows, as reported by Reuters.

“The majority of these reductions will take place this year,” CEO Brian Sikes said in an internal memo obtained by Bloomberg. “They’ll focus on streamlining our organizational structure by removing layers, expanding the scope and responsibilities of our managers, and reducing duplication of work.”

The memo went on to state that this meant “reducing our global workforce by approximately 5%,” as reported by Reuters. This means that about 8,000 of Cargill’s 160,000 employees will lose their jobs.

Cargill’s businesses fell short of hitting their earnings goals in fiscal 2024, with less than a third of their businesses doing so. The company shared with employees over the summer that they planned to downsize from five business units to three, Bloomberg previously reported.

“As we look to the future, we have laid out a clear plan to evolve and strengthen our portfolio to take advantage of compelling trends in front of us, maximize our competitiveness, and, above all, continue to deliver for our customers,” Cargill said in a statement to CNN.

The company cut 200 tech jobs across the country earlier this year. Cargill previously announced that it was hiring for 400 positions for a new Atlanta location in June.

For the last four years, Cargill has been ranked as the largest privately-held company in the U.S., according to Forbes.