Tyson Foods will close two case-ready plants — one in Jacksonville, Fla., and the other in Columbia, S.C. — according to news reports published today. This is the latest move in a long list of changes the company has made over the last year to reel in costs and react to changing market dynamics.
Local Jacksonville media reported that the company notified the Florida state labor department that it would be closing the Jacksonville plant Jan. 8, 2024 — the plant currently employs 219 people. It would try to move employees to other locations in the company, the news report said.
The facility was purchased in 2012 by Tyson subsidiary The Bruss Co. and converted to a steak-cutting operation (it formerly processed shrimp products, the report said).
These closures pile on top of what has already been a rough year for the meat-processing giant. Earlier this year, in two separate moves, the company announced it would close six poultry plants; it also laid off some 250 employees at its Wilkesboro, N.C., poultry plant and eliminated numerous corporate and senior leadership positions following the consolidation of its corporate offices to its world headquarters in Springdale, Ark.
All of these moves have come in response to epic earnings misses and quarterly losses for much of the past year.
