Kraft plans to cut 200 jobs

The food and candy company, Kraft Foods, announced that it will be cutting 200, or one in seven jobs, according to the Financial Times.

BBC News reported that the job cut will roll out over the next two years and occur at four sites: Bournville, Birmingham, Chirk in Wrexham, north Wales, and Marlbrook in Herefordshire.

At the same time, however, Kraft plans on pouring £50 million back (or $78 million) into its own company. The company will spend £44 million to expand its UK factories and another six to bring Oreo and BelVita biscuit manufacturing to its Sheffield plant. This will be the first time Oreo cookies will be produced in the UK, and the firm said it will bring 20 more jobs to Sheffield.

Although the firm said it announced the plans to cut jobs to their staff and union through briefings, not all were informed due to different work shifts. BBC reported that Jennie Formby, Unite national officer for the food industry, said, "It is wrong that the first that hundreds of employees will hear about the threat to their jobs will be through the media."

According to The Press Association, Formby also thought there "should be no job losses" for Kraft, considering all the money it is putting back into their own expansion.

The Financial Times reported that in total, Kraft employees 5,500 people in the UK. Of those employees, 1,400 of them are in the UK chocolate manufacturing business.

Read more from GlobalPost: Kraft Foods will split into two companies by 2012