The largest private holding company in the USA, Cargill, plans to lay off thousands of employees globally, as the company failed to meet profit targets.

Based in Minneapolis, this company is the world's largest agricultural products trader. As part of its 2030 global strategy, the company will lay off about 5%, or approximately 8,200, of its 0.164 million employees. According to sources, the layoffs will not affect the company's management team, but will impact many lower-level executives. These sources requested anonymity as they discussed internal matters.

Due to a significant drop in corn and soybean prices due to a bumper harvest, Cargill, as well as agricultural trade giants like Bunge and ADM, have seen their profits shrink. For Cargill, the scale of cattle farms in the USA is the smallest in 70 years, exacerbating this pressure. Over the past decade, the company has positioned itself as the third largest beef processor in the USA.

"Most layoffs will take place this year," said the company's CEO, Brian Sikes, in a memo, "These measures will focus on streamlining our organizational structure, reducing layers, expanding the scope and responsibilities of management, and eliminating redundant work."

Earlier this year, Cargill informed employees that, as less than a third of its business achieved profit targets in the 2024 fiscal year, it would reduce the number of business divisions from 5 to 3. The company also cut around 200 technical positions at multiple locations.

By the end of the fiscal year ending in May, the company's profit dropped to 2.48 billion USD, the lowest level since the 2015-16 fiscal year. This is less than half of the record 6.7 billion USD net income achieved by the company in the 2021-22 fiscal year.

Cargill stated in a release: "We have developed a clear plan to grow and strengthen our portfolio, leverage compelling trends ahead of us, maximize our competitiveness, and most importantly, continue serving our customers."