Fonterra staff informed hundreds of jobs would go hours after comments made to media
Fonterra only told staff about the potential for hundreds of jobs to go several hours after chief executive Theo Spierings told media.
Spierings fronted up to the media yesterday morning after widespread conjecture over a review underway and the involvement of business management consultant McKinsey & Co, and criticism over the cooperative's underlying management performance.
He said hundreds of jobs were likely to go as part of the review begun last December though the final numbers are still being worked through.
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Fonterra employs 18,000 staff globally and 11,500 in New Zealand. A staff email was sent out late yesterday afternoon reaffirming the prospect of job cuts, without quantifying how many.
The email also outlined why Spierings had commented to the media ahead of talking first, as promised, with its staff and farmer shareholders on anything relating to the review. It's understood his rationale was that there had been too much public conjecture circulating that he wanted to set straight.