By Bill Chappell, npr.org
Kimberly-Clark plans to cut up to 5,500 jobs — about 13 percent of its workforce — and get rid of 10 manufacturing plants, releasing a restructuring plan along with its year-end results that showed net sales rose to $18.3 billion, up slightly from 2016.
The maker of popular brands such as Kleenex, Huggies and Kotex, Kimberly-Clark says its operating profit for the fourth quarter of 2017 was $812 million — a drop from $839 million in 2016. For all of 2017, the company is reporting nearly $3.3 billion in operating profit, down slightly from 2016.
Chairman and CEO Thomas J. Falk cited “a challenging environment” in a company statement about its layoff plans. Kimberly-Clark says it will close or sell about 10 manufacturing facilities and expand production capacity at several other sites.
