Pepsi has been closing plant after plant in the US — now it's cutting another 1,000 jobs despite netting billions in profits

Per company filings, as of the end of last year, PepsiCo employs 306,000 people globally, of whom 125,000 are in the U.S.

The company revised its earnings outlook downwards last month. In North America, beverage sales volume is down 2%. Pepsi shares are up less than 1% year to date, compared to 7.4% overall for the Nasdaq exchange they trade on.

A string of closures

PepsiCo announced the immediate closure of its Knoxville, Tennessee bottling plant in October, informing 122 employees that their salaries and benefits would wrap up Jan. 1.

This follows PepsiCo’s September closure of another bottling plant in Cheverly, Maryland, which stunned 100 affected workers and town officials, per the Washington Post.

In an official statement shared with Moneywise, PepsiCo Beverages U.S. stated that shutting down the Knoxville plant was a “difficult decision” and that the company was “incredibly thankful for the contributions of our employees and the support of the community.”

The corporation said it is committed to providing support for workers as they transition to new employment in the coming months.

The company reported a third-quarter net income of $3.07 billion just 11 days earlier.

But the writing was on the wall in Ramon Laguarta’s latest earnings call. The CEO of PepsiCo told investors he was disappointed with the soft drink side of the business — the business PepsiCo was built on.

“We’re putting all the urgency of the business and the focus on improving our performance in soft drinks,” Laguarta said. “We’re cutting costs in many areas.”

The cost-cutting has included shutting down bottling plants in the past few years. In October 2024, the food and beverage giant announced it was shutting down bottling operations in Atlanta, Chicago, Cincinnati and Harrisburg, Pennsylvania — affecting nearly 400 workers, per the Associated Press.

Doubling down on core Pepsi sodas and healthier options

Even with the closures announced to date, the company still has plenty of capacity to manufacture and distribute beverages. It has plants throughout North America, as well as 17 sites under Pepsi Bottling Ventures, its partnership with the Japanese multinational Suntory Holdings.

Meanwhile, Laguarta says he’s adjusting how the company promotes its mix of soft drinks for a more bubbly bottom line. The trade publication Consumer Goods Technology reports that he plans to double down on investments in the company’s core Pepsi lineup and Mount Dew — as opposed to its other soft drinks, like Crush, Dr. Pepper, and Mug Root Beer.