The meat processing firm JBS is closing a packing facility in Riverside and can lay off 374 workers, based on a discover from the California Employment Improvement Division.
The closure comes as a restricted cattle provide has led to record-high beef costs this yr.
The Riverside facility, operated by JBS subsidiary Swift Beef Co., prepares meat on the market in U.S. grocery shops however doesn’t slaughter animals, JBS spokesperson Nikki Richardson mentioned.
The affected workers might be given alternatives at different JBS crops, together with relocation help, Richardson mentioned. Staff who select to not relocate might be given a 60-day discover interval earlier than their employment ends.
The worth of beef has soared in latest months as ranchers have lower their herds resulting from a drought throughout pastureland and a parasite referred to as screwworm, which pressured a halt to U.S. imports of Mexican cattle. Final month, meat processing large Tyson Meals closed one if its largest beef-processing amenities in Nebraska.
JBS mentioned manufacturing dealt with on the Riverside plant might be transferred to different firm amenities with out interrupting buyer provide or service.
The transition is anticipated to be full by early subsequent yr, the corporate mentioned.
“JBS is dedicated to supporting impacted workforce members by way of this transition,” Richardson mentioned in a press release. “The corporate stays centered on delivering high-quality merchandise and reliable service whereas strengthening its operational footprint to fulfill evolving market calls for.”
The Riverside plant closure is a part of a broader firm technique to optimize and simplify its operations. Shares of JBS have been down lower than 1% in noon buying and selling Monday and have remained flat this yr, rising about 2% since January.
The corporate, which has a U.S. headquarters in Greeley, Colo., additionally has amenities and workplaces all through Europe and Australia.
The panorama is shifting in California’s oil trade as properly, with Valero Vitality Corp. planning to close down a serious refinery within the state by spring 2026.
Final yr, Chevron moved its headquarters from San Ramon, Calif., to Houston, citing difficult enterprise rules within the Golden State. This yr, the final manufacturing unit that turned sugar beets into sugar in California shut down, resulting in the elimination of a whole lot of jobs within the Imperial Valley.
Based on a Chapman College financial forecast launched this month, California’s job progress totaled simply 2% from the second quarter of 2022 to the second quarter this yr, rating it forty eighth amongst all states.
The state misplaced jobs consecutively from June to September. Additionally, subsequent yr the state is anticipated so as to add 62,000 jobs.
California additionally skilled a web inhabitants outflow of greater than 1 million residents from 2021 to 2023, with the highest 5 locations being states with zero or very low state revenue taxes: Texas, Arizona, Nevada, Idaho and Florida, the report famous.
