Israel: SodasStream is slashing its global workforce by about 5%

In response to lower demand, volatile global market and a “new business reality,” Sodastream International has announced today to lay off about 5% of its global workforce.The majority of the job cuts will be made at its sole factory in southern Israel, where it assembles its seltzer machines for home use.

During the COVID19 pandemic the Israel based company that was founded in 1991 could profit from an increased at home consumption. However, recently the company has seen a decreasing demand for its products.

“In recent years, SodaStream increased the scope of its workforce in order to respond to the growth that the company experience for a long time, and particularly during the COVID-19 pandemic,” a statement reads. “Current forecasts for production volumes indicate a return to demand levels recorded in the past.”

When PepsicCo bought Sodastream in 2018 for USD 3.2 billion it has pledged to run SodaStream as an independent unit within the company and to keep the plant and headoffice in Israel for the next fifteen years. One year after the acquisition, PepsiCo announced a USD 92 million expansion of the production plant and the need to hire 1,000 more workers. The company currently employs around 3,000 people worldwide, including 2,000 in Israel. It sells its products in 48 countries.

In 2019, after 12 years at the helm of SodaStream and following its sale to PepsiCo, former CEO Daniel Birnbaum resigned to become chairman of the Israeli company. He was replaced by former Deputy CEO Eyal Shohat.

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