Pabst Brewing Company announced that they’re laying off 70 employees or 18 percent of its workforce. This news comes after the company laid off a few key executives nine months ago and the company laid off dozens of workers a few months prior.

Pabst’s Declining Sales at its Small Town Brewery

Part of the reason for the staff reductions is that its Small Town Brewery has not been able to maintain its early success. At its peak, Not Your Father’s Root Beer earned $100 million in annual sales but dropped to $33 million last year.

Pabst once employed 440 people but the layoffs have reduced that number to 310. The new staff reductions at Pabst will cut operating costs by 15 percent.

But not all is bleak at Pabst. Sales of their Lone Star, Rainier, and Tsingtao brands have exhibited growth. In fact, as the company is looking to simplify and streamline its business, it will also look to invest in its brands that show greater opportunity for growth such as New Holland and Tsingtao.

“After careful review, we believe it is in our best interest to take a series of strategic actions now, in order to reduce complexity, cut costs, simplify priorities, and reallocate resources, so that Pabst is well positioned for success as we go into 2018,” Pabst CEO Simon Thorpe said in a statement.

Struggles in the Beer Industry

It’s not just Pabst that’s feeling the pinch. Anheuser-Busch InBev reduced its workforce by 350 last year. Even some of the larger craft breweries are struggling. Bridgeport Brewing, Stone Brewing Company, and Craft Brew Alliance have all made reductions. The latter announcing that it would be selling its Woodinville, Washington, brewery. And now Smuttynose Brewing has put itself up on the auction block.
Even some of the

People are drinking less beer overall as wine and liquor sales increase. And even while all breweries are taking a hit, it seems likely that likely that the macro breweries will be hit hardest. Hopefully, this bump in the road won’t negate years of steady growth seen in the craft beer industry.