Community Corner

UPDATED: Medtronic Cutting 250 Twin Cities Jobs

Fridley-based firm to shed 1,000 jobs in total; General Mills, with a plant in Fridley, will lay off 850 workers globally.

Updated below. and General Milles—two major companies with facilities in Fridley—announced Tuesday they will lay off hundreds of workers worldwide, but the impact for Fridley workers isn't completely clear yet.

Medtronic's job cuts will total 1,000, including 220 in Mounds View announced earlier this month—a figure the company confirmed Tuesday.

"Roughly 250 positions are TC-based," Medtronic spokeswoman Amy von Walter said by email Tuesday. "The majority have been notified."

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But von Walter would not get detail the local job losses by location more specifically, including whether or how many positions would be lost at its two Fridley faciilities: the corporate headquarters or its Rice Creek campus.

She characterized Medtronic's overall employment situation this way:" "Twin cities is slightly down; US is flat to slightly up and International is up."

Find out what's happening in Fridleywith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Planned hiring will ultimately leave the company with more employees than it has now, she wrote: "This reflects shift in resources to high growth areas – both products and geographies. We will also be adding at least 1500 positions this year – so net up."

A year ago, .

The layoff news came with the companies' first-quarter earnings reports: Medtronic reported a third straight quarter of profit growth.

General Mills
General Mills, based in Golden Valley, plans 850 layoffs around the world. The company has a mill alongside the BNSF rail yard in the southwest section of Fridley. A company web page lists no current job openings at the plant.

Update (10:15 p.m. Wednesday): The number of Minnesota jobs that General Mills will cut is about 425—mostly in administration and support, according to  Twin Cities Business.


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