Meat processor West Liberty Foods (WLF) will shut down its ready-to-eat slicing and second-shift log production operations at its West Liberty, Iowa, plant over the next year, resulting in the elimination of 260 production positions through attrition and layoffs. about a quarter of the 865 workers who work at the plant in eastern Iowa.
Dan Waters, WLF’s legal director, sent a message from the company saying workers were notified of the job cuts on Feb. 13, but no production workers were laid off at the time of the announcement. The company plans to start making adjustments on April 29. , with staggered layoffs in April, May, June and November.
Segmentation operations won’t stop for the company; WLF will move its operations to its Bolingbrook, Illinois, plant due to growing demand for RTE sandwiches produced at the suburban Chicago plant the company acquired a decade ago.
The company made it clear that turkey harvesting and first-shift log production operations at the West Liberty plant would not be affected and that the company would maintain its headquarters there. WLF is working to identify redeployment opportunities within the company and will offer on-site support and reemployment services.
It’s been a challenging few years since the end of the Covid-19 pandemic for WLF, which announced in October 2022 that it would close its Mount Pleasant, Iowa, facility in 2023 due to a relief in demand for pre-cut deli meats. Had the plant closed in May 2023 as originally planned, around 350 workers would have lost their jobs, however, WLF managed to locate a customer for the facility of Mexican food processor Sigma Alimentos, which is looking to increase its production capacity. Brands of breakfast meats.
Most recently, WLF laid off about 55 people at its plants in West Liberty, Bolingbrook and Tremonton, Utah, in November 2023, according to media reports.
Andy Hanacek has been covering meat, poultry, bakery, and snacks as a B2B editor for about 20 years, and has visited many processing plants and food companies, sharing stories of innovation and technological advancements in the food origin chain. won a Folio:Eddie award for his exclusive “From the Editor’s Desk” vlogs and has won other Folio and ASBPE awards over the years. In addition, Hanacek led the meat industry Hall of Fame for several years and served as vice president. President of Communications for We R Food Safety, a food protection software and consulting company.