PepsiCo to Lay Off Hundreds of Workers in North America

Facts

PepsiCo Inc. reportedly plans to cut staff at its North American snacks and beverages division in order to "simplify the organization." The news comes amid fears that worsening macroeconomic conditions could see the economy slide into recession.
According to a Wall Street Journal report, the layoffs will affect hundreds of employees at the company's snacks and packaged foods businesses in Chicago and Plano, Texas, as wells as its beverage businesses in Purchase, New York.
PepsiCo is the producer of its namesake soda along with Gatorade, Mountain Dew, Frito-Lay chips, Doritos, and Quaker Oats, and employs roughly 309K people worldwide, including about 129K people in the US.
In October, PepsiCo's third-quarter revenue was reportedly up 9%, after higher pricing boosted its sales and helped offset volume declines in some units – including Frito-Lay North America. For 2022, the company projected organic revenue growth of 12%, up from 10%.
However, PepsiCo's finance chief Hugh Johnston had warned they would cut costs to offset the pressure on profit margins. "There may be a point when the revenue growth slows down," Johnston said, adding, "we just have to be prepared for it."
PepsiCo is joining rivals Beyond Meat, Impossible Foods, and Coca-Cola in trimming costs and laying off workers, as economic uncertainty puts pressure on their businesses. Last month, Coca-Cola offered voluntary buyouts to some of its staff in North America to help restructure the organization.

Pro-establishment narrative, as provided by Forbes. PepsiCo's layoffs are not a unique response to the post-pandemic reset. Recession fears are forcing multinational companies to implement broad restructuring to streamline their businesses and, unfortunately, layoffs are essential to cutting operating expenses and achieving more efficient growth. Sacking a talented workforce is difficult, and should only be resorted to if there are no alternatives.
Narrative B, as provided by Spoon. With their earnings, sales, and revenue skyrocketing, it looks suspicious that companies like PepsiCo are claiming layoffs are the only viable way to simplify their organization or restructure their business. Most likely, the employees are paying the price of poor leadership, investors' greed, and irrational business decisions. This is typical of companies at large putting much more pressure on their existing portfolio to cut costs and quickly reach profitability.