The Reese's Peanut Butter Cups maker's announcement helped shares reverse course to rise about 6% in early trading.
The restructuring will impact less than 5% of the company's workforce and will result in up to $60 million in severance expenses.
Meanwhile, fourth-quarter net sales of $2.66 billion missed estimates of $2.71 billion. Organic sales volumes fell 6.6% as inflation-weary customers cut back spending on the company's expensive chocolates and candies.
"Consumers are spending less during non-seasonal periods, a trend that will likely continue throughout 2024," said CFRA Research's Arun Sundaram.
Cadbury chocolate maker Mondelez International (MDLZ.O) also posted volumes drop in the fourth quarter as price hikes deterred customers from spending on its products.
Hershey said 2024 net sales are expected to increase between 2% and 3% year-on-year, compared with analysts' estimates of growth of 3.4%, as per LSEG data.
It sees the annual adjusted profit per share to be flat, compared with a year earlier. Analysts were expecting adjusted earnings growth of 3.3% to $9.82 per share.
CEO Michele Buck said Hershey expects higher cocoa prices to limit its earnings growth this year.
The company, which raised its quarterly dividend by 15%, had about 18,075 full-time and 1,790 part-time employees worldwide, as of end 2022, according to a filing.
