Amway to Cut 900 Jobs, Mostly From Ada Headquarters
Hundreds of Amway's West Michigan employees are getting let go.
Wood TV 8 reports the multilevel marketing company announced the move Thursday, calling it a “painful and difficult” part of a massive organizational restructuring. The plan, reportedly, has been in the works for at least seven months and is due, in part, to the coronavirus pandemic.
Amway is cutting 900 jobs, which they say is 6% of their staff worldwide. Ninety percent of the employees being eliminated work at their headquarters in Ada. Most are expected to be gone before the end of the year.
According to Wood TV 8, more than 1,000 employees will be offered a "voluntary separation program" that includes severance and benefits. However, "some people are expected to be laid off. They will also get severance packages but they won’t be as big as those who opt in."
Grand Rapids Business Journal reports that Amway said in a statement,
“We announced to U.S. employees that as we invest even more in nutrition science, innovation and manufacturing, and in delivering seamless social, shopping and customer experiences to help our Amway business owners around the world grow and thrive, we will also be restructuring our operations. This restructure includes the reduction of up to 900 roles in Ada and Buena Park, (California). It is our hope to achieve as much of this as we can through voluntary departures, and we will offer generous terms that align to our values, treating all employees with openness, dignity and respect.”
Amway CEO Milind Pant said,
Since Rich (DeVos) and Jay (Van Andel) founded Amway 60-plus years ago, we have been focused on helping people live better, healthier lives, and now we are investing even more in our wellness portfolio — in science, innovation, manufacturing — while also improving our digital capabilities...
It is a difficult business reality that this kind of change doesn’t come without affecting people — people we love dearly who all passionately believe in what we do to support entrepreneurs all over the world.