Arla Foods to make job cuts

Arla Foods plans to cut 600 jobs over the next three financial years, primarily within the group’s administrative departments.

The decision is part of the final stage of the merger between the Swedish Arla and the Danish MD Foods two years ago.

Since the merger on April 17, 2000, the merger process has proceeded on schedule. The first step in the process was the development of an organisation plan followed by the preparation and implementation of a strategy plan and, subsequently, the presentation of a structural plan in June 2001. This, in turn, was followed by a consolidation programme.

The Arla group has now embarked on the fifth and final phase of the merger process which aims at simplifying the group’s business systems.

A crucial component of the final phase is the so-called Ett Arla project, which is not only intended to harmonise the joint business systems but also introduce new management systems.

”The work has given us a much broader insight into joint business operations and enables us to begin to simplify the administrative functions across the board,” says Managing Director, Jens Bigum, Arla Foods.

”The co-ordination of the two companies was a huge task, which has weighed heavily on many of our staff,” Jens Bigum says. ”The cut-back in employment levels should not be seen as a result of surplus resources within the business but solely as a consequence of a desire to achieve greater cost efficiency.”

The first cut backs will be implemented in the 2003/04 financial year and affect 200 jobs across all divisions and staff.