MARSHALL - Approximately 60 Schwan Food Co. employees were notified Thursday that their position with the company has been eliminated.
Schwan said the moves, which will affect employees in the company's Marshall and Bloomington offices, are part of a cost-reduction initiative.
The employees will stay on the payroll and will receive benefits through the holidays, a news release from Schwan said.
Schwan is not releasing exact figures by location, but Schwan Communications Manager Chuck Blomberg said both the Marshall and Minneapolis locations are being affected equally on a percentage basis. Schwan also wouldn't say in which divisions the layoffs are taking place.
All impacted employees are being offered severance packages and outplacement services to help them through their transition.
"Eliminating positions is always difficult," said Greg Flack, CEO, president and COO of The Schwan Food Co. "This decision was made only after reducing other expenses and carefully considering what is best for the company and employees as a whole. Today's move allows the company to reduce operating costs and position itself to deliver greater value to consumers."
The positions impacted by the announcement represent about 2 percent of the 2,500 company employees based in Minnesota. Nationally, The Schwan Food Company's subsidiaries employ more than 16,000, down from about 20,000 two years ago.
The Schwan Food Co. declined an Independent request for further comment on Thursday's announcement.
Thursday's is the largest job cut Schwan has undertaken since it eliminated 52 jobs in January 2009 in Schwan's Home Service, Schwan's Consumer Brands North America, Schwan's Food Service, Schwan's Global Supply Chain, Information Services, Schwan University, Corporate Administration and Law, and Human Resources and Finance.
Schwan cut 67 employees from its corporate headquarters four months prior to that round of layoffs. Those positions included information services, training and development, finance, human resources and other corporate administrative offices.
Some of the training and development cuts in 2008 were at Schwan's University.
The cuts were announced a little more than a week after the Marshall City Council approved the creation of a Tax Increment Finance district on the site of a proposed $9 million Schwan expansion the company said will create about 64 new jobs in Marshall. The new production line could open early next fall.