Reynolds American announced Tuesday that the company plans to cut approximately 570 positions from its tobacco unit, about 10% of its total American workforce. The cuts will begin to take effect in the third quarter of this year, though some will keep their jobs through the end of 2009. The layoffs constitute part of a larger change in strategy for the company, which plans to increase its focus on smokeless tobacco products, reflecting a general trend in the US. Cigarette sales are dropping by 3-4% a year, while sales of smokeless products, such as chewing tobacco, snuff and cigars, are growing by 5-6% per year.
See "Tobacco company plans to cut U.S. work force", Associated Press, The New York Times, September 9, 2008