Tobacco Giant Faces Economic Uncertainty

http://www.EmploymentCrossing.com Altria Group, the owner of the nation's biggest cigarette maker, confirmed that it has started to cut jobs because of the global economic meltdown. Spokesperson David Sylvia declined to say how many cuts would be made, but said they were planned for employees of parent company Altria and its cigarette unit, Philip Morris USA. Both are based in Richmond, Virginia. Shares of Altria, formerly the Philip Morris Companies, fell 49 cents, or 2.8 percent, to close at $17.33 on Tuesday. Altria announced in August 2007 that it would cut as many as 400 positions when it moved its headquarters out of New York in March of 2008. The cuts were designed to save $250 million annually. An undisclosed number of employees moved to work in the Richmond office. The latest cuts are in addition to those layoffs. Altria and its subsidiaries, with total assets of $57 billion, employ more than 10,500 people.

Category:

News & Politics

Tags:

• employmentCrossing
• videos
• layoffsAltria
• Group
• cigarette
• maker
• tobacco