Tyson Foods to shut down two more plants, affecting nearly 1,700 workers

Tyson Foods, the biggest US meat company by sales, is set to close two chicken plants with a combined workforce of nearly 1,700 employees on May 12.

The company plans to shift chicken demand to other plants as it seeks to utilize full capacity at each of its facilities, but also seeks to improve performance following a period of struggle in its chicken business.

Last year, Arkansas-based Tyson stated it was unable to fulfill all of its chicken orders due to constrained supplies and labor. The company intended to increase production to address the issue and had previously sourced chicken from other producers to meet demand.

Last year, Tyson wrongly predicted that demand for chicken would be strong in the final two months of the year. The company replaced the president of its poultry business in January.

“The current scale and inability to economically improve operations has led to the difficult decision to close the facilities,” Tyson said.

According to regulatory filings, Tyson Foods had approximately 124,000 employees in the United States as of October 1, with 118,000 of them working at non-corporate sites such as meat plants. The company announced in October that it plans to move all its corporate staff to its headquarters located in Springdale, Arkansas.

Tyson’s decision to close the facility at its plant in Virginia was criticized by the United Food and Commercial Workers Local 400 union, which represents the affected employees. However, Tyson has offered alternative job opportunities at other company facilities for the workers who will be losing their jobs.