Laid off from Conagra Brands.

What Conagra Brands layoffs have meant for employees

In its statements on three plant closings, at Sylvester, Milwaukee and Fennville, Conagra pointed to its network. At Sylvester it said the decision followed an analysis of its business strategy and operating network and wasn't due to employees' performance, WALB reported, and its Milwaukee letter and its Fennville notice, in Michigan’s copy, both gave the reason as improving efficiencies within its supply chain network. If one of those three plants was yours and a hiring manager later asks why your job ended, you can cite the company's own reasoning when explaining a layoff.

For office staff, the 2015 and 2018 rounds both came with a decision about where Conagra's management would sit. The October 2015 release that set up the Chicago headquarters also set out to cut office positions while leaving plant jobs alone, and it planned to keep about 1,200 people in Omaha. Looking back in 2019, Food Dive put the Omaha cuts at 1,000 jobs, with 300 workers moved to Chicago, and described the closings of Pinnacle offices after the 2018 purchase as a way to centralize work and cut costs. Conagra told ROI-NJ that keeping management in the Midwest was the cost-effective decision when it set Pinnacle's New Jersey offices to close. Both times Chicago and Omaha were named as the places for certain functions, transfers or job applications, alongside the positions being eliminated. The cuts came in stages, too. A spokesperson said many of the New Jersey job cuts wouldn't come until well into 2019, and the notices said anyone kept beyond December 31 would work remotely.

At the plants, the Milwaukee and Fennville notices both gave their dates as projections, and each set terms for its own site. Milwaukee's letter put every separation on April 2, 2021, or within fourteen days of it, and Fennville's named two dates, June 27, 2025 for all but one employee and August 29 for the last. If you're lining up a start date elsewhere around a projected last day, leaving some slack after it allows for a date that moves. For anyone weighing a move to another Conagra plant, the fiscal 2026 10-K still lists manufacturing in Michigan, Wisconsin and Tennessee, the states where its plants closed from 2021 to 2025, as of July 2026.

The two notices also differed on union terms. In Fennville's, the union-represented production and maintenance employees had bumping rights and the management and administrative staff, who weren't represented, didn't. At Milwaukee, the letter reported that no one was union-represented and no one had bumping rights. Across the company, the same 10-K puts about 48% of employees under collective bargaining agreements as of May 31, 2026.

Conagra's newest filing describes three programs running at once. Alongside Project Catalyst, its August-quarter 10-Q carries initiatives approved in fiscal 2026 to rework the frozen fried chicken supply chain, which it expects to bring about $85 million in charges, about $64 million of it accelerated depreciation and asset write-offs. Those initiatives are expected to be completed by the end of fiscal 2028. The filing also carries a review of non-core businesses that it says will lead to some restructuring charges. None of the three names a plant, a job count or a date for any cut.

For a claim after Fennville, Michigan unemployment benefits covers the state's rules; after Milwaukee or Beaver Dam, Wisconsin unemployment benefits does, and after Newport, Tennessee unemployment benefits. Office staff in Omaha can start from Nebraska unemployment benefits, and those at the Chicago headquarters from Illinois unemployment benefits.

A sourced history of Conagra Brands layoffs

• April 2025, Fennville, Michigan plant closing notice

  Conagra told Michigan’s labor department it would close the Fennville plant, ending production around June 27 and separating 75 employees. Its 61 production and maintenance workers, represented by Teamsters Local 406, had bumping rights, and no one else did.

• April 2024, Beaver Dam, Wisconsin Birds Eye plant closing

  Conagra planned to close its Beaver Dam plant making Birds Eye frozen foods, Food Dive reported, cutting 252 jobs with production ending around June 10. It said it would offer severance benefits and make the products in fewer facilities.

• October 2021, Newport, Tennessee plant ends production

  Conagra told WVLT production at its 1905 plant ended October 22, affecting about 215 jobs, with about 30 more at the warehouse. Products went mainly to Archbold, Ohio and Ft. Madison, Iowa, and employees could apply at other Conagra facilities.

• January 2021, Milwaukee plant closing notice

  Conagra's letter to Wisconsin set the Milwaukee plant's closing, announced in January 2020, for April 2, 2021, separating all 190 employees, 172 of them in production roles. None were represented by a union, and none had bumping rights.

• Summer 2020, planned Sylvester, Georgia Peter Pan plant closing

  ConAgra said its Sylvester plant, which made Peter Pan peanut butter, would close in summer 2020, affecting 175 positions, WALB reported, with employees told a month earlier. The company said the decision wasn't due to their performance.

• February 2019, Boulder Brands office closing

  Closing the former Pinnacle office in Boulder, Colorado was to eliminate 100 jobs starting in May, according to Food Dive, and a spokesman said employees would receive severance pay. The company expected to offer many of them jobs elsewhere.

• December 2018, Pinnacle's New Jersey offices set to close

  After buying Pinnacle Foods in October, Conagra filed notices, ROI-NJ reported, to close Pinnacle's Parsippany headquarters and a Cherry Hill office, laying off 308 and 196. Some would be offered transfers to Chicago or Omaha; others could apply for openings.

• October 2015, Chicago headquarters move and office cuts

  ConAgra Foods said in an October 1 release it would cut about 1,500 office positions but no plant jobs, and move its headquarters to Chicago, where about 700 employees would work from 2016 while about 1,200 stayed in Omaha.

What to do if you're laid off from Conagra Brands

• File for unemployment in the state where you worked. Benefits run from your filing date, and severance usually doesn't block you. Conagra Brands's biggest hubs: Illinois, Wisconsin, Michigan, Nebraska. Somewhere else? Every state is here.
• Apply for financial and hardship assistance. Unemployment supplements income, but food benefits, health coverage and utility help are often available as well. Here's some of what Conagra Brands's hub states run: Illinois, Wisconsin, Michigan, Nebraska, and every other state is here.
• Mind the health insurance window. Losing coverage opens a 60-day special enrollment period, and an ACA plan usually beats unsubsidized COBRA. Compare your options before the employer coverage lapses, and read how the COBRA clocks run if you are weighing it seriously.
• Get your real runway number. Severance plus savings divided by reality. The calculator takes five minutes.
• Know which clocks are already running. Severance review windows, COBRA election, visa grace periods, and 401(k) rollovers all run on federal deadlines that started at termination. All five deadlines are here.