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After a relatively quiet April, packaging manufacturers disclosed in May more than 600 workers would be impacted by closures and layoffs, citing production shifts and other economic reasons.
- Amcor alerted the state of Iowa on May 1 to a series of layoffs this year in Des Moines. According to the notices, the company planned to lay off nine people by June 1, 10 people by July 1, one person by Aug. 1 and nine people by Sept. 1. The Des Moines Register reported May 3 that the layoffs are due to the company transferring sealant and forming film production from its Des Moines plant to other Amcor locations, and that the plant for food packaging would stay open with about 75 workers.
- Cascades Containerboard Packaging on May 24 issued an update to a February WARN notice in Connecticut, which had said the company would close a converting plant in Newtown by May 31. That date has been extended until June 7.
- Genpak disclosed in a May 29 notice that 138 employees will be impacted when it closes a facility in Middletown, New York, between Aug. 27 and Dec. 21 for unspecified economic reasons. Workers at the company, which makes food service containers, are represented by the International Association of Machinist and Aerospace Workers AFL-CIO.
- Georgia-Pacific decided to close its corrugated plant in Milan, Michigan, impacting 113 employees. According to a May 6 notice, layoffs were to begin May 17 and run through July 6, though some employees may remain past that date to help with the shutdown. Hourly employees are represented by the United Steel Workers International Union and do not have rights to move into jobs held by less-senior employees, according to G-P.
- Graphic Packaging announced multiple layoffs in May. The company will lay off 73 workers between July 9 and July 23 at a facility in Memphis, Tennessee. It’s also closing a facility in Randleman, North Carolina, impacting 65 workers; per a May 9 notification, those layoffs are effective July 23. Elsewhere in North Carolina, GPI announced earlier this year it was closing a plant in Charlotte, which impacted 112 workers. In January, the company said it “decided to consolidate Charlotte’s production into our broader network of plants” after assessing its converting portfolio.
- Larsen Packaging Products, an Illinois-based box maker, said in a May 1 notice that it was closing its Batavia manufacturing site, resulting in 71 layoffs beginning May 6.
- Mauser Packaging is exiting U.S. aerosol can manufacturing. In WARN notices May 9, the company alerted the state of Ohio it would close a facility in Cincinnati on July 27, impacting 107 employees. It simultaneously disclosed in Wisconsin that it would shutter aerosol can operations in Sturtevant, impacting 42 employees.
