Did McCormick lay off any employees?

As part of a series of cost reduction initiatives, McCormick & Company’s leaders announced Thursday that the Sparks-based spices company is on track to save $95 million this year – $10 million over its initial goal.

The bulk of those savings came from the company’s Comprehensive Continuous Improvement (CCI) program – around $75 million. But an additional $10 million came from a  voluntary retirement program offered to around 300 employees, which included many Maryland-based workers. About half of those 300 employees opted into the program and retired earlier this year, the company said.

According to McCormick spokeswoman Lori Robinson, the number of employees that opted into the retirement program “reduced” the need to do major layoffs.

“The employee separations were very very minimal,” said Robinson, adding that most employees who were affected by the cuts either retired or found other positions within the company.

“(We) assess our needs closely which may require changes to specific jobs.  These case-by-case situations were not significant for McCormick this year,” said Robinson in an email.

Robinson added that the company is still hiring locally and has 60 job openings in the area.

It’s still unclear exactly how many McCormick employees were let go altogether. If you care to share your perspective on the cost-cutting program, tell us about it by emailing anamika.roy@thedailyrecord.com.