
U.S. Beer Industry Blames Trump Tariffs for 40k Job Losses - smacktoward
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2019-05-23/u-s-beer-industry-blames-trump-tariffs-for-u-s-jobs-decline
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MR4D
So, uh, a merger of the two largest beer companies in the world couldn’t be at
fault here, could it?

Nah. Let’s blame the guy we don’t like instead.

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smt88
Citation?

I don't understand how there could be that many jobs eliminated by a merger
while the beer output remains the same.

It also often takes years for mergers to completely eliminate redundant
employees.

It's hard to believe any manufacturing industry org has an anti-Republican
political agenda.

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krageon
> I don't understand how there could be that many jobs eliminated by a merger
> while the beer output remains the same.

This is what a merger is for. You use it to enhance "synergy" (I hate that I
have a legitimate for this now) and in so doing can fire as many people as
possible to maintain production.

> It also often takes years for mergers to completely eliminate redundant
> employees.

It is possible to prepare for a merger by pre-emptively selecting/preparing a
dossier (if that is necessary, this is the US so probably not) so you can fire
them as soon as all the paperwork clears.

> It's hard to believe any manufacturing industry org has an anti-Republican
> political agenda.

I don't see why, but I'm also not at home in this political setting.

~~~
smt88
I know what merge are for and how they work.

I’m skeptical of the number. Even half of 40,000 is a huge number for a
company with ~170,000 employees, especially in manufacturing.

~~~
AlexTWithBeard
Cutting almost 25% of the workforce due to the merger is at least
theoretically possible.

Cutting 25% of the workforce because aluminum process went up (and beer
consumption fell 1%) certainly looks like too much of a stretch.

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lurquer
At 'retail' spot prices, Aluminum is around $1,885.29 a metric ton.

There are about 0.5714 ounces of aluminum in a typical can of beer.

That is, there is around $0.03 of Aluminum in each can. (Actually, it is a lot
less as, obviously, canning companies buy Aluminum in bulk.)

Average can of beer is $1.15.

Thus, Aluminum makes up -- at most -- 2% of the price.

Assuming the "10% tariff" is completely passed on to the consumer, the
increase in price would be -- wait for it -- less than a penny.

In short, the article is complete BS.

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thatoneuser
Yet the end of the article says that beer drinkers have been switching to wine
and spirits. I don't think I trust the industry to be unbiased when explaining
it's layoffs. Having worked for a corp that had a huge annual layoff season -
it's all about saving face.

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themagician
It's going to be wild to see what happens come Q1 2020, after everyone has had
a chance to publish their 2020 price lists and push these tariffs down the
supply chain.

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99chrisbard
Craft beer taste better anyways.

