Campbell Soup Starts Voluntary Separation Program For Employees Near Retirement

Campbell Soup announced Monday that it started a voluntary employee separation program as part of its plan to reduce costs. The food and snack company said in a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission that the program is available to U.S. salaried employees nearing retirement age, who also meet the length-of-service and business function criteria. Campbell expects the program to be mostly completed by the end of its fiscal year, which ends in July. The company said it can't provide an estimate of the cost of the program until it knows which employees will participate in the program. The stock, which was still inactive in premarket trade, has gained 4.3% year to date, while the S&P 500 has edged up 0.1%.