NEW YORK – Agri-food giant Cargill is laying off thousands of its employees.

Cargill confirmed this week that it would reduce its global workforce by approximately 5%. In a statement sent to The Associated Press on Tuesday, the food company said the reductions were part of a long-term strategy “to strengthen Cargill’s impact,” which includes a realignment of resources.

Minnesota-based Cargill did not immediately provide additional details on the layoffs. But a 2024 annual report from the company says it has more than 160,000 employees worldwide, meaning the latest job cuts are expected to affect about 8,000 workers.

As a private company, Cargill does not regularly release its finances publicly. A 2024 report from the company, however, indicates that it operates in 70 countries and sells in 125 markets, generating some $160 billion in annual revenue. That’s down from $177 billion in revenue the year before.

The announcement of this week’s layoffs comes as much of the agricultural sector continues to face drop in the prices of the raw materials they tradewith costs of everything from wheat to vegetable oil falling from record increases seen during the COVID-19 pandemic and global conflicts such as Russia’s war in Ukraine. While sticker prices for consumers are even higher than they were just a few years ago, this change has added pressures on food giants like Cargill.

“As the world around us changes, we are committed to transforming even faster to meet the needs of our customers and fulfill our purpose of feeding the world,” Cargill said Tuesday. The company added that its workforce reductions were the result of a “difficult decision (that) was not taken lightly.”

According to an internal memo seen by Bloomberg, which first reported Regarding the layoffs at Cargill on Monday, CEO Brian Sikes told employees that the majority of those reductions will take place this year. Citing unnamed sources familiar with the matter, the outlet also said the job cuts would not impact Cargill’s management team, but that a number of other senior executives would be included.

Despite recent revenue declines, Forbes continues appointed Cargill is the largest privately held company in the United States this year – marking the fourth consecutive year the company has held that title, and the 37th time overall since Forbes began its ranking in 1985.