PepsiCo have announced they are to cull 8,700 jobs in North America in order to save the company $1.5bn (£944m) by 2014. The corporation -- which makes Pepsi, Walkers crisps, Tropica, and Quaker Oats amongst others -- has yet to state if the redundancies will affect the 5,000 PepsiCo employees situated in the UK.

The unfortunate news comes despite the drinks and food brand recently revealing an 15% increase in sales in 2011, with profits rising by 2% to $6.5bn (£4bn). However, PepsiCo also forecasted a sales decline in 2012 resulting in company shares falling by almost 4 percent.

As with a similar move from rivals Coca-Cola and Premier Foods, PepsiCo aims to up their marketing presence in the US with a $500 million investment in marketing. It also plans to invest $100 million on in-store displays and coolers,. The brand have been losing its market share to Coca-Cola throughout 2011.

In a note to investors, Citi Investment Research analyst Wendy Nicholson wrote: "We are curious as to why Pepsi has not made the choice to balance its investment spending more evenly around the world."

Chief financial officer, Hugh Johnston, stated: "As we implement our strategic priorities in 2012, we've had to make tough decisions. As a result, 2012 will be a year of transition."