Tyson’s Foods, the largest US meat company by sales, is closing down two of its poultry plants, one in Virginia and another in Arkansas, and laying off nearly 1,700 workers in an effort to boost profits after years of struggle.
Tyson to lay off 1,700 workers in move to downsize and boost profits
Tyson Foods announced it will be closing two of its chicken plants in the US and will cut jobs for nearly 1,700 employees, which is set to occur by May 12, the company said in a statement.
The two plants being shuttered are one in Glen Allen, Virginia, which employs roughly 692 workers, as well as another in Van Buren, Arkansas, which has 969 employees, according to a company statement.
“The current scale and inability to economically improve operations has led to the difficult decision to close the facilities,” Tyson said in a statement.
As of October 1, Tyson had roughly 124,000 employees in the US, CNN reported.
The company said it would be relocating all corporate employees to its headquarters in Springdale, Arkansas.
Tyson has struggled for years
According to reports, Tyson has been struggling for years in an attempt to improve its chicken business, Yahoo News reported. The two plant closures mark a change in strategy to shift operations to other facilities in an attempt to improve efficiency, and have those plants operate at full capacity and boost production, the company said.
Last year, Tyson said it could not fulfill all of its orders for chicken because of both limited supplies and labor. In order to meet demand, the company was forced to purchase chicken from other producers.
The company had wrongly predicted that demand for chicken would be strong at supermarkets during November and December, Tyson Chief Executive Donnie King said during a quarterly earnings call last month.
In January, the company replaced the president of its poultry operations.
“Demand didn’t appear in the parts of the market where we had expected,” Tyson CEO King said. “As a result, we had to move things around.” He added the situation led to higher costs and lower prices.
About Tyson foods
Tyson Foods was founded by John W. Tyson in 1935 and is headquartered in Springdale, Arkansas. Tyson Foods is the largest meat company in the United States by sales, producing one-fifth of all the chicken, beef, and pork sold to grocers in the US. It also is one of America’s largest meat suppliers to fast food and full-service restaurants, including KFC, Taco Bell, McDonald’s, Burger King, Wendy’s, Wal-Mart, Kroger, IGA, Beef O’Brady’s, as well as small restaurant businesses and prisons.
In 2022, Tyson had worldwide sales of $53,282 billion, which was more than 13 percent higher than the previous fiscal year, according to Statista.
