More Acquisitions, More Work, Right?

By Courtney Boyd, Editorial Intern

Maybe not. In a recent assessment, the U.S. audit, tax and advisory services firm KPMG LLP found that one third of the 101 food and beverage companies it surveyed will use their cash reserves to buy out other businesses. While 46 percent of those companies’ executives plan to add employees next year, only 8 percent say they will increase their workforces by 6 percent or more. If mergers and acquisitions are being made, shouldn’t employment opportunities increase?

KPMG sector leader Patrick Dolan explains that because these companies were able to stay afloat in a sea of corporate failures with fewer employees, and because current workers are more productive overall, they aren’t running out to recruit new ones. Thirty-six percent of those surveyed agree that although jobs are being created, job numbers won’t return to pre-recession levels for at least another two or three years. A fifth of employers predict numbers will never return.

Names undisclosed, the companies surveryed are “privately held and publicly traded companies with revenue ranging from $100 million to $10 billion and above,” writes AJC reporter Jeremiah McWilliams. KPMG plans to release the study Tuesday, with eyebrows already raising at Atlanta-based Coca-Cola Co. For updates on the story visit The Atlanta Journal-Constitution online.