Investors react to P&G job cuts

CINCINNATI - In an effort to save $10 billion, Procter & Gamble is laying off 5,700 of its workers.

Investors are applauding the move after P&G stock gained 3 percent Thursday. The stock rose to as high as $66.95 Friday morning, but closed at $66.77.

The cuts announced will all be from non-manufacturing positions, slashing that workforce by 10 percent. The layoffs are planned for the 2013 fiscal year, which starts in July.  It's unclear how many of the job cuts will come from the Tri-State.

Procter & Gamble is the largest consumer products maker in the world. The company recorded more than $82 billion in sales in 2011 and employs about 12,000 people in Cincinnati.

Chip Workman, a financial planner with the Asset Advisory Group, says P&G investors hope being a leaner company will encourage more growth down the road.

"Procter & Gamble has gone through these cycles before and they've always come out on the other end very well, many companies go through these cycles and have to cut back and get leaner to grow again in the future," said Workman.

Workman says P&G stock has been moving sideways after years of strong growth.

He says a move like Thursday's announcement is what stockholders have been hoping for.

"We did see a nice bump at about 2.5 percent as of close, up to 3 percent in after-hours trading. It was a positive move for a single day in a stock," said Workman

While investors are happy, thousands of workers will now be out of a job.

P&G says 1,600 of the cuts come from early retirees, but the 4,100 other pink slips will go to people who will be in need of a new job.

"Wall Street definitely wanted to see some restructuring and reacted positively to that news, what happens from here is really determined by how it's executed, and what the street thinks of how they actually execute on the plan," said Workman.