By Dave Sebastian

Coca-Cola Co. said it plans to lay off some employees, offer voluntary separations and reorganize its segments as part of its reorientation in beverage strategy.

The beverage giant said Friday it plans to establish nine new operating units under four geographical segments. Coca-Cola currently has 17 business units under four geographical segments, plus global ventures and bottling investments. The reorganization comes as the company weathers the Covid-19 pandemic.

A platform-services division will also function in data management, consumer analytics, digital commerce and social and digital hubs. The platform-services unit will eliminate duplicate efforts across the company, Coca-Cola said.

The company is offering initial voluntary-separation packages to about 4,000 employees in the U.S., including Puerto Rico, and Canada who have a most-recent hire date on or before Sept. 1, 2017, it said. Coca-Cola said it is also pursuing a similar move abroad.

The company said it expects overall severance programs to incur expenses of $350 million to $550 million.

Coca-Cola said it is reinforcing leadership in five marketing categories: Coca-Cola; sparkling flavors; hydration, sports, coffee and tea; nutrition, juice, milk and plant; and emerging categories.

"The changes in our operating model will shift our marketing to drive more growth," Chairman and Chief Executive James Quincey said.

In July, Coca-Cola said it believed the biggest challenges of the pandemic were behind it, despite the current surge in coronavirus cases in many parts of the U.S. Its sales improved in May and June as shelter-in-place measures eased around the world. 



  Write to Dave Sebastian at dave.sebastian@wsj.com