Coca-Cola confirmed last week that it is planning to cut 2,200 jobs globally as part of a restructuring plan first announced in August. 1,200 of these jobs will be in the US, representing about 12 percent of the beverage giant's workforce there. The others will be spread over its operating units worldwide, although the company did not disclose which units will be affected.

This is the second round of job cuts since August, the first one having involved voluntary buyouts for 4,000 employees in the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico. At the time, the company also announced that it would be cutting back its business units from 17 to nine, and later, in October, it said that it would be cancelling about 200 of the less popular brands in its product lineup.

So far, the job cuts amount to approximately 7 percent of Coca-Cola's total global workforce, which stood at 86,200 at the end of 2019. The company has not stated how many jobs it will eventually cut, but it has estimated that the severance packages will cost between US$350-550 million worldwide.

The restructuring, which Coca-Cola CEO James Quincey said in October had been accelerated by the pandemic and the accompanying economic downturn, comes in tandem with a decline in the company's revenue throughout the year, although Coca-Cola remains profitable.