More layoffs hit 78 Winston-Salem workers

WINSTON-SALEM – Dairy Farmers of America will close its ice cream manufacturing production lines in its Winston-Salem facility permanently, resulting in the loss of jobs for 67 employees and an additional 11 contract workers.

The company, operating the facility as DFA Dairy Brands Fluid, LLC, filed a notice with North Carolina officials indicating that the closure of the ice cream production lines will be permanent, but other operations at the facility will remain in place. And the company noted in its letter to state officials that it would have open roles at the facility and other company locations “nearby.”

Layoffs at the plant will come in “successive phases,” the letter notes. But all job cuts will occur by April 21, 2023.

Still, the “status of the existing fluid milk production line also located at the Winston-Salem Facility is unaffected by this planned action,” the letter reads.

The notice sent by the company is a required legal notice sent to state officials under the federal Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification (WARN) Act.

Layoffs hit NC: Aerospace, textile firms cutting hundreds of jobs

More NC layoffs

Earlier this year, Collins Aerospace also filed a WARN notice, disclosing that it planned to shutter two offices in Forsyth County, affecting 163 and 32 positions. Winston-Salem is the county seat of Forsyth County. The closures of the Collins Aerospace facilities are permanent, according to the company’s notice.

Mass layoffs in North Carolina throughout 2022 numbered just over 4,000 – the lowest total number of affected workers impacted by layoffs disclosed in WARN notices sent to state officials in more than two decades, according to public records analyzed by WRAL TechWire.

Another layoff announced in 2023 is the shut down of a Bostic, which is located in Rutherford County, facility by textile company Milliken. That plant shut down will impact 103 workers, according to the WARN report.

And earlier this year, Monitronics International, Inc., d/b/a Brinks Home, announced it would close its field service offices “in certain locations,” which would impact four North Carolina workers, who would be laid off.