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Advice & Opinion

PepsiCo is cutting about 1,000 North America jobs this week. What to do if yours is next.

Federal layoff-notice law counts cuts site by site, so spread-out corporate cuts can slip under it. How to protect your severance, health coverage and pay.

PepsiCo is cutting about 1,000 North America jobs this week. What to do if yours is next.
Stock photo. Photo by Vitaly Gariev on Unsplash

PepsiCo is cutting about 1,000 jobs across its North America food and beverage business, and the cuts are coming fast: changes roll out "over the coming week," the head of the unit told employees.

Ram Krishnan, CEO of PepsiCo North America, told employees in a Nov. 9 letter that "too much of how we work today remains complex and fragmented," Bloomberg reported. The goal, he wrote in the letter Reuters obtained, is "to move faster, execute better, and invest behind the opportunities that will drive our growth." The Wall Street Journal first reported the roughly 1,000 figure. Neither the letter, as quoted, nor PepsiCo has said which roles or locations are affected.

PepsiCo employed about 306,000 people worldwide at the end of 2025, including about 125,000 in the U.S., Reuters reported.

Flat chips, falling soda

PepsiCo telegraphed this. In its Oct. 8 third-quarter release, PepsiCo reported North America beverage volume down 2% and snack volume flat, while snacks grew overseas. It cut its full-year core earnings-per-share growth forecast to 2.5% to 3.5%, down from the low end of 5% to 7%. CEO Ramon Laguarta said "additional structural cost reduction actions are being identified and will be implemented in the coming months." The push for savings began after activist investor Elliott Investment Management took a roughly $4 billion stake about a year ago, Reuters reported.

The cuts are part of a pattern of big employers shedding thousands of jobs this fall. For example:

What the law makes PepsiCo do (less than you'd think)

The federal WARN Act covers employers with 100 or more full-time employees and requires 60 days' written notice before a plant closing or mass layoff. The catch is in the definitions: the law counts job losses at a single site of employment over 30 days. A plant closing means 50 or more people losing jobs at one site. A mass layoff means at least 50 people who make up a third of the site's workforce, or 500 people at one site. A thousand cuts spread across offices and teams nationwide may never cross those lines at any one location. An employer that breaks the rule owes affected workers back pay and benefits for each day of violation, up to 60 days.

PepsiCo knows the drill when a whole site closes. It gave WARN notice in 2025 for 287 workers at its Liberty, N.Y., snack plant, and filed one in California this year for 248 jobs at a Frito-Lay distribution site in Rancho Cucamonga.

Some states reach further:

  • California: employers with 75 or more employees must give 60 days' notice of a layoff of 50 or more people within 30 days, regardless of percentage. New this year, notices must explain what help laid-off workers will get.
  • New York: employers with 50 or more full-time employees in the state owe 90 days' notice for layoffs of 25 or more people who are at least a third of a site, or 250 or more.
  • Illinois: employers with 75 or more full-time employees owe 60 days' notice for layoffs of 25 or more full-time employees who make up a third of a site, or 250 or more.
  • New Jersey: employers with 100 or more employees owe 90 days' notice when a layoff hits 50 or more workers at a worksite, and must pay one week of severance for each year of service.

If you get the 15-minute calendar invite

Don't sign on the spot. Outside cases like New Jersey's, severance usually isn't required by law, but an offer can be negotiated, and money is only one lever. Company-paid COBRA, a neutral reference and a promise not to contest unemployment can be on the table too (severance.law FAQ).

If you're 40 or older, count the days. In a group layoff, federal law gives you at least 45 days to consider an agreement that waives age claims and 7 days to revoke after signing. The employer must also give you, in writing, the job titles and ages of the people selected and those who weren't. That list can show whether older workers took the hit (how to read it; more on rights over 40).

Read the release. Watch for one-way non-disparagement clauses, releases that reach future claims, and final pay held hostage to your signature (more red flags, written for California).

Lock down health coverage. If your employer had 20 or more employees, COBRA lets you keep its health plan, generally for up to 18 months after a layoff. You have 60 days to elect, but you'll pay the full premium plus 2%. You can also pick a Marketplace plan within 60 days of losing job-based coverage.

File for unemployment right away in the state where you worked, and check your final paycheck: federal law sets no deadline for it, but some states require prompt payment.

Sources

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