WINDOM, Minn. — Layoffs may be on the way for some 1,000 workers at a southwestern Minnesota pork processing plant.
According to a letter sent to HyLife Foods employees in Windom, the company had been “exploring several strategic options that would have enabled it to continue go-forward operations despite financial challenges resulting from various internal and external factors, including inflationary pressures, high grain costs, foreign exchange rates and the plant’s operational losses.”
In the letter, the Manitoba-based company provided “conditional notice” to its employees at the plant “who may experience a job loss if the company’s efforts to sell all or a portion of its business do not succeed or if a buyer chooses not to extend offers to some or all of the employees.”
The notice was given under the federal WARN Act, which requires employers to give notice of potential job losses under some circumstances.
HyLife took over the Windom plant only three years ago, when it merged with a pork processing enterprise owned by Minnesota billionaire Glen Taylor. Taylor’s Mankato-based company no longer has a stake in the plant.
After surging demand for meat during the pandemic, pork prices are down as hog supplies have increased.
HyLife president and CEO Grant Lazaruk said in an emailed statement to Forum News Service that, “In 2020, when we purchased the plant in Windom, Minnesota, our goal was to turn the operations around. Our vision, investments and strong community involvement are a testament that we intended to be here for the long run.
“On April 10, 2023, we shared that our leadership has been working to sell this facility to ensure that the business continues and is properly capitalized for the future,” Lazaruk said. “This means we intend to continue producing high-quality products while this sales process plays out. We want to sincerely thank our team. This is an extremely hard week and we are unquestionably sad. We are doing our best to share the information we currently have.”
The letter to the Windom employees, who are not unionized and are primarily immigrants, does not state that those who receive it will definitely lose their jobs, but that “it is anticipated that your employment will terminate in the next few months if the company does not find a buyer that chooses to offer you continued employment.”
Employment would end between April 17 and May 1 or between May 19 and June 2.
Windom City Administrator Steve Nasby told Forum News Service that officials in the Cottonwood County seat of 4,800 was notified by HyLife after-hours on Monday. A meeting is planned between the city and HyLife leadership on Wednesday to discuss the situation involving one of the rural community’s largest employers.
