The Wall Street Journal-20080126-Tyson to Cut 1-500 Jobs at a Kansas Plant
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Tyson to Cut 1,500 Jobs at a Kansas Plant
Tyson Foods Inc. will cut 1,500 jobs as it ends beef slaughtering and restructures operations at its plant in Emporia, Kan. About 2,400 people now work at the plant in two shifts.
The facility will continue to be used as a cold-storage and distribution warehouse and will process ground beef.
"There continues to be far more beef-slaughter capacity than available cattle and we believe this problem will continue to afflict the industry for the foreseeable future," said Tyson's chief executive, Dick Bond. "We estimate the current slaughter overcapacity in the industry to be between 10,000 and 14,000 head of cattle per day."
The beef business, which accounts for more than 47% of Tyson's sales, posted an anemic operating profit of $1 million for the fiscal fourth quarter, ended Sept. 29. Tyson, based in Springdale, Ark., also has beef plants in Amarillo, Texas; Dakota City, Neb.; Denison, Iowa; Finney County, Kan.; Joslin, Ill., Lexington, Neb.; and Pasco, Wash., and beef operations outside the country.
