Tyson Foods has announced plans to shut down three facilities in Pennsylvania and Kansas as part of its efforts to “optimize” operations.
The closures, set for the end of 2024, will affect more than 1,000 employees, reflecting the company’s ongoing challenges in its beef and pork segments.
Two of the facilities, located in Philadelphia, will cease operations by the end of January, impacting 229 workers. These sites are part of the Original Philly Holdings business that Tyson acquired seven years ago.
Meanwhile, in Kansas, a larger beef and pork processing plant in Emporia will close in February, affecting over 800 employees.
“As part of the Company’s business strategy to operate more efficiently, Tyson Foods, Inc. has determined that it must eliminate all jobs at its Emporia, Kansas, plant,” Ernesto Sanchez, Tyson vice president of operations, beef and pork, wrote in a letter addressed to Emporia Mayor Erren Harter, Emporia City Manager Trey Cocking, and Shelly Thompson, workforce services director at the Kansas Department of Commerce. “Tyson Foods regrets that team members at both Emporia facilities must be permanently displaced yet hopes to accomplish these closings with the least possible disruption to the lives of the team members, their families and the community.”
Tyson recently reported a modest 0.8 percent increase in annual sales, reaching $53.31 billion for the fiscal year. However, the company says challenges persist in its beef protein segment, the company’s largest revenue generator. Despite an operating income of $1.41 billion and a net income of $800 million, Tyson’s management warned of continued difficulties in this segment.
This announcement follows a series of restructuring efforts by Tyson. In March, the company permanently closed a pork plant in Iowa, resulting in nearly 1,300 job losses. In July, it sold a poultry processing complex to House of Raeford Farms, a local poultry producer.
Over 1,000 employees were impacted by the latest closures, with Missouri poultry farmers suing the company after closures in January
