• The Wall Street Journal reports that PepsiCo "is laying off workers at the headquarters of its North American snacks and beverages divisions, a signal that corporate belt-tightening is extending beyond tech and media … Hundreds of jobs will be eliminated, one of the people said. The cuts affect the company’s North America beverage business, which is based in Purchase, N.Y., and its North America snacks and packaged-foods business, which has headquarters in Chicago and Plano, Texas, the people said."
PepsiCo told employees in an internal memo that the layoffs were intended “to simplify the organization so we can operate more efficiently.”
• From the Wall Street Journal:
"Restaurant and trade groups said they have submitted enough voter signatures for a ballot measure to try to halt the implementation of a new California law that would set minimum hourly wages for fast-food workers in the state starting next year.
"A coalition of restaurant owners and business groups called Save Local Restaurants said Monday it had filed more than 1 million petition signatures to put the law on hold and place an initiative before California voters on the 2024 ballot. They had until Dec. 5 to submit roughly 623,000 valid voter signatures to place a question on the 2024 ballot asking whether the law should take effect. If voters side against the law, it could be struck down.
"The secretary of state must review the restaurant groups’ ballot signatures to determine whether the coalition has submitted enough valid ones for a statewide referendum.
"The California law, known as the FAST Recovery Act, could set the minimum wage for the fast-food industry as high as $22 an hour next year and establish new workplace standards. Gov. Gavin Newsom signed the legislation last September, saying it would give fast-food workers a stronger voice in determining their wages and working environments."
