Oscar Mayer restructuring plans put 135 jobs at risk

The news comes just over a year after the manufacturer announced downsizing plans at its Flint, North Wales plant​​ that affected the jobs of 330 members of staff.

However, it is understood that Oscar Mayer will be opening up 101 vacancies at the Wrexham plant, limiting the potential redundancies to about 34 people.

Necessary measures

Ian Toal, chief executive of Oscar Mayer said that the proposals had not been made lightly, but believed they were necessary to ensure a long-term sustainable future for the business.

“The UK chilled foods sector remains highly competitive. For us to continue to compete and grow we have to take steps to become more efficient so that we can deliver on our strategy to innovate, expand the market and meet the changing demands of consumers and our customers,”​ said Toal.

“We don’t underestimate the impact of this announcement on our much-valued, hard-working team in Wrexham and will provide them with all the support we can, including offering alternative roles at our Wrexham and Flint sites, should these plans proceed as currently proposed.”​

Food and drink redundancies

A number of manufacturers have announced major redundancies across their businesses since the start of 2024.

Just last month, Pilgrim’s Food Masters revealed up to 260 members of staff could be made redundant​ ​due to the proposed closure of a manufacturing site in West London.

Pilgrim's is now coming to the end of its statutory 45-day consultation with staff, with trade union GMB previously stating that it would "fight tooth and nail for workers to be paid every penny they are due".​

Meanwhile, a restructure of Keystone Brewing’s drinks estate has resulted in a number of job cuts across Black Sheep Brewery.​​