Sara Lee to cut 700 jobs in North America, Europe

Sara Lee Corp. said it would cut 700 jobs, or 1.6 percent of its global workforce, to help save as much as $250 million in the next three years.

The maker of frozen cakes and Jimmy Dean sausages will shift jobs for some of its North American and European finance and information-technology services this year to reduce expenses, Sara Lee said today in a statement.

Sara Lee joins PepsiCo Inc., Coca-Cola Co. and Delta Airlines Inc. in eliminating positions in response to the global recession. The number of Americans filing first-time claims for unemployment benefits surged in the week ended Dec. 6 to a 26- year high as companies stepped up firings, the U.S. Labor Department said today.

Sara Lee will cut data-entry workers, financial report preparers and computer-network operators during the next three years, with cuts coming faster in the U.S., Mike Cummins, a spokesman, said today in an e-mail. The 700 jobs include some contract workers. Cummins declined to provide a breakdown.

The company, which also makes Ridsect insecticides, Earth Grains breads and Ball Park hot dogs, said Nov. 5 that full-year profit will be less than it previously estimated because of falling foreign currencies and waning demand in Europe.

Sara Lee fell 8 cents to $9.25 at 9:43 a.m. in New York Stock Exchange composite trading. The shares declined 42 percent this year before today.