HICKORY – Tyson Foods is cutting hundreds of jobs at a poultry processing plant in Wilkesboro, the company has disclosed.

At least 250 jobs have been cut  beginning in October, according to the Hickory Record.

No layoff notice has been filed with the state of North Carolina, however.

Some 2,244 workers are employed at the facility, the Record noted.

“We were able to offer team members working the second shift the opportunity to take other positions at the Wilkesboro plant and already many are moving to the first shift. They can also apply for positions at other Tyson Foods facilities,” Tyson said, according to the newspaper.

Nearly 8,600 workers have been affected by layoff actions according to 97 reports filed so far with the state.

That’s more than double the number in 2022 and well above the 5,600 of 2021 but far short of the more than 31,400 jobs lost in 2020 – the year of COVID.

This isn’t the first meat related plant in the state to be hit by layoffs.

More than 100 workers at a Smithfield packaging plant in Mecklenburg County have been told their jobs are ending in December, according to a notice.