WEST LIBERTY, Iowa – West Liberty Foods – a top employer in this community – has announced it will cut about 260 jobs from its workforce in the coming months. That represents about one-fourth of its current workforce in West Liberty.
The company plans to discontinue its ready-to-eat slicing and second-shift operations in the face of ongoing labor shortages. That will mean the elimination of nearly 300 jobs, company officials announced this week.
The layoffs are scheduled to take place in stages across April, May, June and November.
The company currently has about 865 employees at its West Liberty site. The company currently employs about 1,018 workers in Iowa, 570 in Illinois, and 641 in Utah.
“The decision to phase out key components of its operations did not come lightly. The company has navigated the turbulent waters of the pandemic, which forced a scale-back in production, and has wrestled with the persistent issue of labor shortages in its wake. In response to these challenges, West Liberty Foods is not only focusing on the cessation of certain operations but also on the future of those whose jobs are impacted. The company has pledged to work closely with affected employees, exploring reassignment opportunities within the company and offering on-site re-employment and support services to ease the transition,” according to a story on the layoffs on the news website bnnbreaking.com.
West Liberty Foods officials were not available for comment today, Feb. 16.
The move comes on the heels of earlier layoffs last November when West Liberty Foods notified more than 50 workers in overhead and support positions that their positions would be eliminated.
At the time, Dan Waters, chief legal officer for West Liberty Foods, said 25 people at its West Liberty, Iowa, plant were laid off, and 17 people at its Bolingbrook, III., facility and 12 people at its Tremonton, Utah, plant, were laid off, according to a story on meatpoultry.com.
During those layoffs, Mr. Waters added that during the COVID-19 pandemic, along with the labor shortage that followed, West Liberty needed to scale back production, allocate available products among existing customers and turn away new business. This left the company with more supervisory, clerical and sales positions than needed to support reduced production and employment levels.
West Liberty Foods produces nearly 650 million pounds of food product each year for grocery stores and restaurants across the United States, placing it among North America’s top 50 protein processors.
