Kraft Heinz Moving to Cut 2,500 Jobs

The new Kraft Heinz Co. is moving to cut about 2,500 positions in the U.S. and Canada, including about 700 from suburban Chicago headquarters of the former Kraft Foods Group.

The company, which was formed in early July by merging Pittsburgh’s H.J. Heinz Co. and Kraft Foods, has been widely expected to trim jobs and operations as it works to form a more efficient, profitable company.

When a joint venture of Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway and Brazilian private investment group 3G Capital acquired Heinz two years ago, thousands of jobs were cut, while factories were closed and worked shifted to other locations.

Kraft Heinz is co-headquartered in Pittsburgh and suburban Chicago. Kraft brought about 22,000 employees to the merger, joining the Heinz workforce that stood at 24,500 at the end of 2014.

The company said the moves are being made to create a new streamlined structure to simplify and leverage the company’s scale. “This new structure eliminates duplication to enable faster decision-making, increased accountability and accelerated growth.”