Oscar Mayer’s Madison headquarters and factory will close down, consequently laying off 1,000 workers, but city and state officials said they will offer assistance to former workers. Parent company Kraft Heinz is moving the iconic hot dog brand and the company’s USA meats business from Madison, Wisconsin to the Loop’s Aon Center, adding 250 jobs to the city. The state will also consider a three-quarter million dollar research activity tax credit. She said there’s been a trend of transforming closed plants into worker-owned operations, and she is hopeful something like that could happen with the Oscar Mayer plant, perhaps helping to grow the regional food industry.
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That includes the flagship Oscar Mayer plant in Madison, which employs about 1,000 workers.
Kraft Heinz said Wednesday that it will be eliminating 2,600 jobs and closing seven factories.
Six other plants will also close, including two plants in California, and one each in Maryland, New York, Pennsylvania, and Canada.
The Oscar Mayer company has been a Madison fixture for decades.
The plant closures will be carried out over the next two years.
The massive consolidation plan “is a critical step in our plan to eliminate excess capacity and reduce operational redundancies for the new combined company”, Kraft Heinz spokesman Michael Mullen said in a statement.
Heinz and Kraft merged this summer and company officials promptly began cost-cutting measures that mirrored Heinz’s 2013 acquisition by Berkshire Hathaway and 3G Capital. The new company announced in August that 2,500 non-factory jobs would be cut following the merger. At the appropriate time, affected employees will receive severance benefits, outplacement services and other support to help them pursue new job opportunities.
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The River Food Pantry says the company has been a significant contributor, providing volunteers and donating products.
