The staffing plan for Kellogg's is predicated on the state of the industry, the position of Kellogg's within the industry, the number and type of staff already on board, and the rate of attrition. The state of the cereal industry in the 2000's is not impressive. Although the United States has "the fourth highest per capita consumption rate of cereal in the world," with more than 2.7 billion packages sold each year, growth in the cereal industry has been "slow to non-existent in the early 2000s" ("American Industries: Cereal Breakfast Foods"). In 2002, ten of the top 15 cereal producers reported losses, and the ready-to-eat cereal category fell to $8.1 billion in 2001, a drop from the 1995 level of $8.6 billion ("American Industries: Cereal Breakfast Foods"). Spending within the industry is declining, with marketing budgets shrinking by 37% ("American Industries: Cereal Breakfast Foods").
             Despite these disappointing statistics, the Kellogg Company remains an industry leader among U.S. cereal makers, with 2002 sales revenues of $8.3 billion ("American Industries: Cereal Breakfast Foods") and 2005 sales over $10 billion ("About Us"). The company is still "the world's largest breakfast producer and leading provider of convenience foods," employing "25,000 employees around the world" and marketing its products in 180 countries ("Kellogg Company Celebrates a Century"). At the Battle Creek site, the company employs approximately 250 employees in the corporate office and approximately 3,500 in the manufacturing area, for a total of 3,750 employees. Attrition due to retirement, terminations, resignations, and death is approximately 8%, or 300 employees per year. The company does not anticipate expanding its employee base in the upcoming year, but it does need to hire additional people to compensate for the expected...