Lager Heads ^[1] is getting strong indications that it will be a rough weekend for many folks who work at Anheuser-Busch ^[2]. This is the first month under the new regime of InBev, and things are changing fast. 

We are told, for example, that all engineering employees were informed Thursday that their office would be closed for business on Friday (today). They were given a time to come in to discuss their status with the company. Late afternoon Thursday, hundreds of boxes were reportedly delivered to the technology center.

“The mood was tense and somber, a terrible day by any standard,” according to one source. People waited to get news of their meeting times, not sure if everyone had a meeting, or only those being laid off. “Watching the computer screen for that dreaded email made you sick to your stomach,” said the source. Folks are reportedly bracing for significant cuts in engineering and IT staff within the next week or so.

Another source said many younger folks who left other jobs or took transfers to work at Anheuser-Busch’s brewery in Columbus, Ohio are now looking at being booted.

Yet another source said several marketing folks were escorted out, something the guards don’t usually do. That apparently caused a buzz.

“General mood is very, very low,” said one source. There is anger at past management “and lack of faith in the new.” One person wrote that the top floor of Anheuser-Busch’s headquarters has been turned into “furniture heaven,” with unused executive furniture now being stored there to await its next life. “Everyone” thinks the upheaval on the ninth floor “was done simply to make a statement,” wrote one source.