GlobalData : PepsiCo’s 10,000 job postings show increased focus on digitalization and innovation

13 Jan 2021
PepsiCo's 10,000 job postings show increased focus on digitalization and innovation Posted in Business Fundamentals

PepsiCo's jobs postingsindicate that the company is leveraging increasedat-home consumption patterns through a consumer-centric approach. GlobalData, a leading data andanalytics company, notes that a significant number of jobs postingsby PepsiCoin the past year were to strengthen supply chain capabilities, product research andinnovation.

Ajay Thalluri, Business Fundamental Analyst at GlobalData, comments: 'According to GlobalData's JobAnalytics database, 3,500 of the 10,000jobs posted by PepsiCoin the second half of 2020 were related to 'innovation' or 'digital' keywords. That's a huge one in every five jobpostingsfor the whole year.'

For the period from Feb-May 2020, jobclosures were significantly higher than postings. This potential reaction to the initial wave of lockdowns was followed by recovery in June with the company posting over 1,200 jobs, a 76% increase when compared to May 2020. The H2 2020 postingsare also up from around 8,700 seen in the first half of the year.'

Multiple senior-level jobs such as 'Commercial Digital Solutions Director' were posted in countries across Europe to help the PapsiCo create advanced digital sales solutions andplatforms. The company also posted direct-to-consumer (D2C) related jobs in geographies such as Russia, China, Slovenia, andIndia.

Sumit Chopra, Director of Consumer Research at GlobalData says: 'COVID-19-induced changes in consumer behaviour andgrowing at-home consumption will prove to be beneficial to some food sectors. This may just help PepsiComitigate some of its losses - for example due to lower demand in industries such as non-alcoholic beverages. PepsiCohas taken some important operational steps ranging from the launch of two D2C websites to the mitigation of business challenges - as reflected in its hiring activity for D2C, ecommerce andsocial media roles. These steps should help strengthen the company's distribution andsupply system.'

Ajay Thalluri, Business Fundamental Analyst, says: 'PepsiCohas paced up hiring since Q3, focusing more ondigital transformation andcreating multiple ways to engage with consumers. Its jobpostingsinclude roles for research, analysis andpackaging design. Furthermore, PepsiCois hiring a senior director for its data acquisition centre to manage opportunities andinnovationwith data providers, internal customers, enterprise data management andgovernance teams.'

Sumit concludes: 'PepsiCo's hiring initiatives are targeting key themes such as sustainable packaging andproduct innovationto ensure they are reacting to changing consumer demand during the pandemic - but more importantly moving towards creating a future-proof business strategy.'