National Beef on Monday notified about 433 employees of lay offs that will be effective by April 13 at its Hummel’s Wharf, Pa., and Moultrie, Ga., facilities.
Affected employees will receive a letter from National Beef providing information regarding their pay, health insurance and unemployment benefits. Approximately 150 employees at Hummel’s Wharf and 283 at Moultrie are affected by the lay offs.
"National Beef was notified in October by one of its key customers that it would transition away from using National Beef as a supplier of case-ready beef. Today, there are no plans to close the Hummel’s Wharf or Moultrie facilities; however, they will begin to operate at reduced levels," the company said in a statement. "National Beef is working to bring additional business to each facility and to preserve the jobs, skills and experience of the National Beef team at each location."
So when they say transition away from using National as a supplier of case ready beef, do you think case ready beef is losing ground in the market? Wal-Mart and other big box chain stores are once again looking for in-store meat cutters. I for one would love for centralized cutting to go away completely. I feel horrible for the workers and their families but from my point of view it is the only way to preserve my skills and keep myself relevant in this workforce as a retail meat cutter.
I think that the transition is coming, slowly. there are more company going back to cutting their own and using over the counter cases in the center. from what I been reading they are doing well.