Beverage company Lion has announced that it may cut up to 61 jobs at breweries in Queensland and South Australia.
The Milton brewery in Brisbane, which produces XXXX beer could lose 25 full-time workers while 36 jobs are expected to go at the West End brewery in Adelaide.
Lion says that the job cuts are needed in order to remain competitive in the marketplace “against a range of cost pressures” and the “continued decline” in the mainstream beer market.
The drinks company is currently undergoing a strategic review, however Lion said that the proposed job cuts are separate to those negotiations and “reflect external market conditions”.
Although the company confirmed that West End remains South Australia’s most popular beer and XXXX is the best performing mainstream beer brand in Australia, it said “no brewery is immune from the need to be competitive”.
West End will continue to be brewed locally and will play an “important role” in the Lion brewery network.
Lion said any workers made redundant would have access to outplacement, job transition and retirement planning assistance.
“Our preference would always be to offer voluntary over compulsory redundancies in the first instance,” the company said.
