Recruiting in China

SOFT drink bottler PepsiAmericas Inc said it plans to reorganize its field sales and delivery network in the United States as part of a realignment estimated to result in charges of US$18 million.

Sara Zawoyski, vice president of investor relations, said most of that money would go toward relocations, and some field operations will be centralized in Schaumburg, Illinois, where the company's operating headquarters are based. While PepsiAmericas is officially based in Minneapolis, its executive office is small.

PepsiAmericas is the world's second-biggest producer, seller and distributor of PepsiCo beverages. It has operations in 19 US states, Central Europe and the Caribbean.

While Zawoyski declined to give a head count on the job reductions, she said it would be less than one percent of the company's US work force, she said which is now around 12,000 to 13,000, and that they would be scattered across the country. Worldwide, PepsiAmericas employs about 16,000 people, she said.

The US$18 million charge will consist of severance and other employee-related costs. About US$12 million of the charge will be recorded during the fourth quarter