CHICAGO Tyson Foods Inc will terminate about 262 employees in South Dakota who chose not to move to its headquarters in Arkansas, including some key executives, the company told South Dakota officials.
The meatpacker has shed workers in processing plants and corporate offices as it seeks to cut costs in the face of easing demand from cash-strapped consumers and high costs for basics like cattle.
Tyson said in October it would relocate all corporate employees from offices in Dakota Dunes, South Dakota, along with those in Chicago and Downers Grove, Illinois, to its headquarters in Springdale, Arkansas.
July 31 will be the last day of work for most of the approximately 262 Dakota Dunes employees who opted not to make the move, Tyson said in a letter to South Dakota officials last week. Those being terminated held titles including senior vice president of pork and head of sales for pork and beef, according to the letter the state posted online.
Tyson closed two U.S. chicken plants with almost 1,700 workers this year and said in April it would eliminate about 10% of corporate jobs and 15% of senior leadership roles. The corporate reduction was separate from employees leaving the company rather than relocating to Arkansas.
As of Oct. 1, Tyson had about 124,000 U.S. employees, including 118,000 working in non-corporate sites like production plants, according to regulatory filings.
(Reporting by Tom Polansek; Editing by Marguerita Choy)
