Dive Brief:
- Cargill says it will fire 210 union workers at its Memphis, TN, operation starting in February.
- The layoffs come as the agribusiness prepares to close a 412,000 square foot corn mill outside the city, while building a new plant nearby for processing a variety of grains for export.
- The total job loss comes to about 440 jobs - 120 of those being contract ones.
Dive Insight:
It's unfortunate that the new plant Cargill is planning for the Arkansas side of the river won't be built in time to mitigate the losses from the closing of the old plant. The good news, however, is that things are booming in the grain business in the region. All of Cargill's major competitors operate in the neighborhood, so it's possible that some of the laid off workers will find new jobs quickly.