Kraft Australia to cut more than 300 jobs
Kraft Foods, Inc. will axe 325 jobs at two of its Australian manufacturing sites under a two-year plan to reduce costs. The US concern also laid off 151 staff in the country in January, when it closed a biscuit plant and moved production to China. “We are making important decisions which, whilst difficult, are crucial to the future growth and viability of the Kraft Australian business,” said Chris Bell, director of the group s activities in Australia and New Zealand.
Unions and opposition party politicians criticized the jobcuts, especially as the company had received government funding in 2001 to set up its Asia-Pacific headquarters in Port Melbourne, and shared a A$400,000 grant in 2002 to build a water pipeline in Strathmerton.