CREVE COUER, Mo. – You may notice a new sign if you’re driving on Lindbergh in Creve Coeur, Missouri. The Monsanto sign has been replaced with one that says Bayer: Crop Science Division. They’re calling the Monsanto integration, “Day One.”
It’s been an emotional day for employees at a company that’s been a part of the St. Louis business scene since 1901.
It’s a time when the 5,000 former Monsanto now Bayer employees need to hope for the best but also be prepared for the worst.
“It’s unnerving and it’s also a little frightening,” said Dr. J.P. Palmer, a human resources expert at Webster University. “Employees are told one thing and they may experience something else.”
Bayer took out a huge ad in the newspaper to address the take over of Monsanto. Signs outside Monsanto headquarters in Creve Coeur were changed with the new company logo.
Bayer released a video in which Liam Condon, the president of the crop science division, addressed the need to make sure no one on earth goes hungry through innovation, science, and nature.
At this point, he said 800 million people on the planet experience chronic hunger. He also knows consumers have strongly said they want food that is safe to eat.
“People everywhere want and deserve food that is healthy, safe, affordable and grown in ways that are good for their communities and good for our planet,” Condon said.
While Bayer is concerned about feeding the world folks at the company here in St. Louis may be wondering if they’ll be able to feed their kids in the future, will they have jobs? They’ve seen what’s happened in the past to other St. Louis-based businesses.
“Employees at Anheuser Busch were told they would not be let go but then almost 40 percent lost their jobs,” Palmer said.
A company spokeswoman said Tuesday that Bayer was not talking about job growth or job loses right now here in St. Louis. The headquarters for the crop science division will be here in St. Louis. We may learn what the company is thinking when Bayer executives talk to the media on Wednesday.
