The CEO of one of Decatur, Illinois’ largest private employers, Archer Daniels Midland, said Wednesday the agribusiness giant would be cutting 1,000 jobs, about three percent of its overall workforce. 
The company employs about 4,500 people in Decatur. The job cuts mean that about 15 percent of the company’s global corporate staff will be laid off, the AP reported.
Many of the job cuts will come from salaried, rather than hourly workers, ADM said in a statement, adding it plans to offer voluntary early retirement incentives to help achieve the cuts.
“To ensure that we can continue to compete effectively in our global markets, we are taking actions to streamline our organization and achieve significant, sustained cost reductions,” ADM”s Chairman and CEO, Patricia Woertz, said in the statement. “These actions will help us enhance our productivity and earnings power.”
Bloomberg reports ADM’s cuts come on the heels of Cargill announcing an 88 percent drop in profit for its fiscal second quarter.
When I was last in Decatur this summer, I reported on ADM’s optimism about the agribusiness and how much it means to Decatur, including plans to take over some downtown office development. I’ve reached out to both ADM and some Decatur officials for some more information – will update if I hear back.
UPDATE: ADM’s David Weintraub tells me that the company doesn’t yet have specific numbers for how many layoffs will occur in Decatur. Employees have until Jan. 31 to submit voluntary retirement packages, and that will then determine how many Decatur employees will be let go.
He also says ADM will decide at that point whether to go ahead with the move into the Reynolds building downtown.
“Right now, our plans haven’t changed,” he said. Once we’re done with this and we see what the organization looks like we’ll determine how best we can use our facilities in Decatur.”
Weintraub added the cuts come in an “increasingly competitive global environment”, adding: “This is about improving our long-term productivity. It’s a tough but necessary decision we have to make.”
Decatur City Manager Ryan McGrady said while the city is obviously not happy to hear any news about jobs cuts, they still feel that ADM remains “committed” to Decatur.
“We’re going to do whatever we can to help them,” he said, adding that the company’s production side – ADM has one of its largest processing facilities in Decatur – isn’t been affected.
McGrady added that other large employers in Decatur – especially Caterpillar – are up above pre-recession employment levels. Caterpillar, in particular, he noted, has committed to a $500 million investment in its Decatur operations.
And one of Decatur’s oldest agribusinesses – the former Staley Company, now Tate & Lyle, had planned to move some of its operations north of Chicago to Hoffman Estates. That number is now only about 80 jobs, McGrady said.
“Economic development is a game of wins and losses,” McGrady said.
