NEW YORK: Coca-Cola has announced plans to lay off about 1,800 employees globally, in an effort to cut costs by roughly $3 billion. The beverage giant, based in the city of Atlanta in the U.S., said in a statement Thursday that it has begun notifying the first employees and that the process will be completed in the coming months.

"We have committed that we will ensure fair, equitable and compassionate treatment of our people throughout this process," the company, which has some 130,000 employees worldwide, added.

Coca-Cola, which has been hit by declining consumption of carbonated beverages in the U.S., said in October that it planned to cut costs by $3 billion through 2019.

The company posted net income of around $6.3 billion for the first nine months of last year, down 7.5 percent from the same period in 2013, while net operating revenues fell nearly 2 percent to $35.1 billion.

Coca-Cola's shares, which have climbed more than 8 percent over the past 12 months, were up around 0.8 percent in afternoon trading on the New York Stock Exchange.