Kimberly-Clark to Cut 5,000 Jobs on Sluggish Sales Partly Due to Fewer Babies

Millennials aren't having enough babies. No pressure, but that's one of the reasons that Kimberly-Clark, maker of Kleenex, Huggies, Pull-Ups, Kotex and Depend, said has led it to slash costs by $1.5 billion over the next four years, including the elimination of 5,000 to 5,5000 jobs.Job cuts that represent 12 to 13 percent of its workforce are across all business segments and geography, Kimberly-Clark said. The company operates worldwide. About half the cuts will be in North America. Job cuts will depend on the needs of the business and negotiations with unions and other labor groups, said spokesman Bob Brand. The Irving headquarters only has about 200 employees in corporate functions such as human resources and legal.The restructuring comes as the Irving-based company Tuesday posted a 22 percent increase in profit, but sales only rose 1 percent and that's not enough to grow on.The future cost cuts are on top of $450 million slashed by the consumer products in 2017.The new cuts will make the company "leaner, stronger and faster," said CEO Tom Falk, and make it "even more competitive." Retailers from Amazon to Walmart are demanding lower wholesale prices and getting them.Falk said in an interview with the Wall Street Journal this morning that pressure is also coming from an unexpected decline in the U.S. birthrate as millennials delay starting families. The rate declined in 2016 and through the first half of 2017, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.The company reported a fourth-quarter profit of $617 million, or $1.75 a share, versus a profit of $505 million, or $1.40 a share the prior year. Sales rose 1 percent to $4.58 billion from $4.54 billion in the fourth quarter last year.Twitter: @MariaHalkias  Continue reading...