PepsiCo to cut 3,300 jobs as profit falls 10 percent

NEW YORK – PepsiCo announced plans on Tuesday to cut 3,300 jobs and close six plants as it deals with lagging U.S. drinks sales and a surging dollar, which will hurt profits from its rapidly growing international business.

The announcement came as the global snacks and drinks maker reported a 9.5 percent drop in third-quarter profit that missed Wall Street expectations. It also offered a downbeat profit outlook.

The job cuts amount to roughly 1.8 percent of PepsiCo’s global work force of about 185,000 employees. The cuts will affect managerial and factory jobs both in and outside the United States Most will be eliminated in the coming months, Chief Financial Officer Richard Goodman said.

The nation’s second-largest drink maker – which also owns the Frito-Lay, Tropicana and Quaker brands – said the cuts would generate pretax savings of more than $1.2 billion over the next three years. It plans to save $350 million to $400 million in 2009.