World’s Third Largest Beer Company Laying Off More Than 100 Employees Amid Shutdowns

The Molson Coors Beverage Company, which is the third-largest beer brewing company in the world, is making some large job cuts and shutting down a couple of breweries.

One of those breweries is more than 150 years old. The two affected breweries that will be closing early in 2025 are both located in the dairy capital of America, of all places, in Wisconsin.

The largest Molson Coors brewery that will shut down is the Jacob Leinenkugel Brewing Company in Chippewa Falls, Wisc.  It has been running since 1857. Surely a staple in the town, the layoffs will affect a lot of families in the area.

The plant reportedly employs about 120 people and produces around 185,000 barrels of beer per year. That's way more than 99 bottles of beer on the wall.

The other brewery that is closing its doors is a little bit smaller than the Chippewa Falls location. It's the Leinenkugel 10th Street Brewery in Milwaukee.

The reason for the layoffs and the closures is to essentially trim the fat and increase the bottom dollar. Molson Coors has seen a 7.8 percent decline in net sales in the third quarter of 2024.

The higher-ups at Molson Coors released a statement, and it's honestly a little confusing. They blame the sales decline on "macroeconomic environment along with anticipated unfavorable shipment timing and the wind down of a contract brewing agreement."

All of these layoffs and closures are going to be happening mid-January 2025. All of the affected employees are said to have been notified.

Not a great time to get laid off, right after the holidays, but as they say, business is business.