Multiple U.S. packaging manufacturers disclosed upcoming layoffs in August, as manufacturing broadly showed some signs of weakness during the month.
Silgan Containers announced temporary layoffs at three manufacturing facilities in California, two located in Modesto and one in Antioch, impacting 186 employees.
The Aug. 13 WARN notices indicated the first layoffs are happening at a Modesto facility beginning Oct. 13; 72 employees will be impacted. Layoffs at a separate Modesto location are set to begin Oct. 20, where 70 employees will be impacted. Layoffs at the Antioch location are slated to begin Oct. 14 and impact 44 employees. These locations are among Silgan Containers’ more than two dozen manufacturing facilities across the U.S.
Smurfit Westrock reported in an Aug. 23 WARN notice that two administrative layoffs will occur at a Jacksonville, Florida, site on Oct. 18. According to Smurfit Westrock’s website, the location is a paper and cardboard recycling facility; the facility is not closing. Additionally, nine employees will be impacted by a round of layoffs at a corporate office in Duluth, Georgia, effective Oct. 25. Smurfit Kappa and WestRock finalized their combination in July.
The Institute for Supply Management’s August production index showed a reading of 44.8% (with anything below 50% signaling economic contraction). This was its lowest reported level since May 2020 amid declines in new orders, production and staffing. “Companies continue to right-size their workforce using layoffs as the primary tool,” said Timothy Fiore, chair of the ISM’s Manufacturing Business Survey Committee, on a media call Tuesday, Supply Chain Dive reported.
Additionally, packaging customers in key end markets also announced some notable closures in August. Anheuser-Busch, for example, said it plans to shutter a distribution facility in Massachusetts, impacting nearly 200 employees.
Styropek, a manufacturer of expanded polystyrene resin, did not submit an official notice but said it was considering closing a facility with 175 employees in Monaca, Pennsylvania, as part of a “strategic review,” the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reported Aug. 15. Styropek said it would shift some capacity to a Painesville, Ohio, facility if it closes the Pennsylvania plant.
