Global trading house Cargill has told Minnesota it will permanently lay off about 475 employees from facilities in the state starting on Feb. 5, a state agency said on Tuesday.
Cargill has said it plans to cut around 5% of its staff after revenue slumped in its most recent fiscal year as crop prices hit multi-year lows.
Agricultural merchants, including privately held Cargill, are under pressure as prices of the commodity crops they trade, such as wheat, corn and soybeans, have dropped to near four-year lows and crop processing margins have shrunk.
Cargill’s Minnesota employees work at an office center in Wayzata or are “tagged” to the facility but live elsewhere, the company said in a letter to the Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development.
“Cargill is undergoing a business restructuring that is resulting in a reduction in force of certain roles at the Wayzata Office Center,” the letter said.
(Reporting by Tom Polansek; Editing by Lisa Shumaker and Chizu Nomiyama)
