Laid off from Georgia-Pacific.
Georgia-Pacific has been Koch-owned and private since 2005, and its SEC filing index under that name stops in 2006, so there's no recent annual report to check. Five closure announcements since May 2025 cover six sites in five states, and what each one promises about your money is different.
At a glance
What's known about Georgia-Pacific severance and layoffs
- 45 · All-time Georgia-Pacific filings, our tracker
- 4, covering 1,374 jobs · WARN filings since 2025, our tracker
- None yet · Filings in 2026, our tracker
- Five, covering six sites · Closure announcements since May 2025
- No terms on record · Severance amount on record
- February 2006 · Most recent Georgia-Pacific Corp SEC filing
- Koch Industries · Owner since December 2005
Recent Georgia-Pacific layoffs
Georgia-Pacific told 125 Tacoma gypsum workers in September 2026 that the plant is closing
On September 2, 2026, Georgia-Pacific said employees at its Tacoma, Washington gypsum plant had been told the day before that it plans to close the facility permanently, and that all 125 full-time employees would be affected. The notice filed with Washington counts 120 positions, with layoffs expected October 30, 2026. Our tracker holds no 2026 filings for this company yet, which is what a three-day-old notice looks like before a state archive catches up.
Previous rounds
Georgia-Pacific layoff history
Georgia-Pacific belongs to Koch Industries, and its SEC filing index under that name stops in early 2006, which changes what you can learn about your own layoff. There's no recent annual report to open there. When this company closes a mill, the public record is a few paragraphs on its newsroom plus whatever notice your state published. That puts unusual weight on the paperwork you were handed.
Since May 2025 the company has announced five closures covering six facilities in five states. Emporia in Virginia was told on May 2, 2025, effective that day. Cedar Springs in Georgia followed on May 14. October brought the Memphis cellulose mill and its technology center in Tennessee, then the Mt. Olive plant in Illinois. Tacoma in Washington was announced on September 2, 2026 and is due to close by year end. The reasons the company gave split in two. For Emporia and Tacoma it pointed at housing and a 30-year low in existing home sales feeding repair and remodel demand. For Cedar Springs and Mt. Olive it said the site couldn't compete over the long term. Our tracker holds 45 all-time Georgia-Pacific filings, and 4 covering 1,374 jobs across 4 states since the start of 2025.
What those statements promise about money differs. At Emporia and Tacoma the company said it would provide at least 60 days of pay and benefits in accordance with WARN, and neither statement called that severance. At Memphis and Tacoma it said employees would be paid all earned wages and agreed upon benefits at discharge. Cedar Springs named no pay, notice or benefit term at all. Across all five, no severance amount, formula or eligibility rule appears in the reporting we track. Being handed that little in writing is hard while you're working out what you're actually owed.
Three of the five closures put a union in the room. Hourly workers at Mt. Olive are represented by the United Steelworkers, and Georgia-Pacific said it would begin bargaining the effects of that decision as spelled out in the current contract. It said much the same about Memphis. At Tacoma some hourly employees are represented by Teamsters Local 117, and the notice filed with the state said employees "do not have bumping rights." If one of those contracts covered you, your local is the place to ask what the bargaining produced.
The money with a public figure on it came from government agencies. In July 2025 the Labor Department awarded $1.8 million to the Technical College System of Georgia for retraining people hit by the Cedar Springs closure, across fourteen counties. Virginia Works built a page for Emporia employees, and it notes that a change in life circumstance outside Open Enrollment may make you eligible for a 60-day Special Enrollment Period for health coverage. If that applies to you, the window runs from the qualifying event, so go to your state agency first. Our tracker carries each filing with its date and job count for the site you worked at.
Reporting on previous Georgia-Pacific layoff rounds
September 2026, the Tacoma gypsum plant in Washington · Georgia-Pacific said all 125 full-time employees would be affected, with operations ceasing in about 45 days and the site closed permanently by year end. It attributed the decision to challenging market conditions in the gypsum industry and a decline in repair and remodel activity since 2022. The notice filed with Washington, as KOMO News reported, counts 120 positions and expects layoffs on October 30, 2026.
Georgia-Pacific said it would provide at least 60 days of pay and benefits in accordance with federal and state WARN laws, and that employees would be paid all earned wages and agreed upon benefits at discharge. Neither statement calls that severance, and no severance amount appears in the reporting we track.
October 2025, the Mt. Olive corrugated plant in Illinois · About 134 jobs. Employees were told on October 30, 2025 that the plant would close by December 31, after 60 more days of operation. Georgia-Pacific said the decision wasn't a reflection of their work but was based on its ability to compete at that location long term. Our tracker's Illinois filing for that date lists 134 jobs.
Terms not published. Georgia-Pacific said it would soon begin bargaining the effects with the United Steelworkers as spelled out in the current contract, and that it was working to support employees with opportunities within Georgia-Pacific and other Koch companies.
October 2025, the Memphis cellulose mill and technology center · About 130 employees at the Memphis Cellulose mill and 22 at the Memphis Technology and Innovation Center, announced October 16, 2025, with most positions expected to end by early December. Our tracker's Shelby County filing lists 151 jobs.
Terms not published. The company said employees would be paid all earned wages and agreed upon benefits at discharge, that Tennessee would determine unemployment benefits, and that it would work with local union leadership to bargain the effects.
May 2025, the Cedar Springs containerboard mill in Georgia · About 535 jobs, announced May 14, 2025, with most positions due to be eliminated by August 1. Georgia-Pacific said it didn't believe the mill could competitively serve its customers in the long term. The mill had opened in 1962, and a consultant's report to Early County commissioners later estimated the annual economic loss at $182 million, counting payroll, spending, tax revenue and the foresters who supplied it.
Terms not published. The statement named no pay, notice or benefit term of any kind, and offered access to local support agencies, job placement resources and opportunities within Georgia-Pacific or other Koch companies.
May 2025, the Emporia plywood mill in Virginia · Employees were told on May 2, 2025 that the mill would close effective that day, with the site to be permanently closed on July 1. Georgia-Pacific pointed to housing affordability and a 30-year low in existing home sales hitting its plywood business. It put the count at about 550, and our tracker's Virginia filing lists 554 jobs.
At least 60 days' pay with benefits in accordance with WARN, which the company named without calling it severance. No severance amount or formula appears alongside it, and the company offered access to job placement resources and opportunities within Georgia-Pacific or other Koch companies.
What to do after being laid off from Georgia-Pacific
- File for unemployment in the state where you worked. Benefits run from your filing date, and severance usually doesn't block you. Georgia-Pacific's biggest hubs: Georgia, Virginia, Washington. 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 Georgia-Pacific's hub states run: Georgia, Virginia, Washington, 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.
Georgia-Pacific layoff and severance questions
Did Georgia-Pacific pay severance to laid-off mill workers?
No. No severance amount, formula or eligibility rule appears in any of the five closure statements, and there are no terms on record. What the statements do carry is at least 60 days of pay and benefits in accordance with WARN at Emporia and Tacoma, and earned wages and agreed upon benefits at discharge at Memphis and Tacoma. Neither is called severance. Cedar Springs named no pay or benefit term. For the terms that applied to you, check your separation paperwork and, if you had one, your union contract.
Why can't I find Georgia-Pacific's annual report or employee count?
Koch Industries completed a $21 billion acquisition on December 23, 2005, after which the company kept its name and ran from Atlanta as a privately held, indirect wholly owned subsidiary. Its EDGAR index under that identifier ends with a document dated February 9, 2006 and includes a Form 25 removing the shares from listing that January, so no recent annual report sits there. Koch affiliates may file separately under their own identifiers. The December 2005 announcement reported 55,000 people at more than 300 locations, as the company stood then.
Are there Georgia-Pacific WARN filings in 2026?
None in our tracker, and that zero needs reading carefully. Our tracker holds 45 all-time filings and 4 covering 1,374 jobs across 4 states since the start of 2025, with none yet in 2026. Georgia-Pacific filed a closure notice with Washington on September 2, 2026 covering 120 positions in Tacoma, three days before that count was computed. A zero here means the collected state archives held nothing on the day the count ran, which isn't the same as nothing having happened.
What help is available for laid-off Georgia-Pacific workers?
The clearest documented programs came from government agencies. The Labor Department awarded $1.8 million in July 2025 to the Technical College System of Georgia for retraining after the Cedar Springs closure, and Virginia Works published a page for impacted Emporia employees naming the American Job Center at 321 Halifax Street. Georgia-Pacific said at Emporia, Cedar Springs and Mt. Olive that it would give employees access to job placement resources and opportunities within Georgia-Pacific or other Koch companies, though the record doesn't show how many people moved or what those jobs paid.
Where do I file for unemployment after being laid off from Georgia-Pacific?
In the state where you worked, not where the company is headquartered. Georgia-Pacific's biggest U.S. hubs are Georgia, Virginia, Washington. Severance usually doesn't block you from filing, and benefits run from your filing date, so file the same week.
Is it OK to file for unemployment after a layoff at Georgia-Pacific?
Yes. Unemployment insurance is funded by payroll taxes employers pay on wages, the claim never appears on credit reports or background checks, and future employers cannot see it. If the hesitation itself is the obstacle, whether filing is OK has its own article.
What happens to my health insurance after a layoff at Georgia-Pacific?
Your plan sets the end date rather than the law, so the separation packet is where that date actually lives, and it is often the last day of the month rather than your last day of work. After coverage ends, COBRA lets you keep the identical plan by paying the whole premium yourself, up to 102 percent of what the plan really costs, which lands as several times the payroll deduction you were used to. You get 60 days to elect, counted from the later of coverage ending or the election notice arriving, and electing reaches the coverage back to the day the old plan stopped so no gap exists. How continuation coverage works walks the timing, and whether to take it rather than a marketplace plan is a separate decision.
Should I sign the severance agreement right away?
First pin down how much review time you actually have. If you're 40 or older, federal law gives you 21 days to consider an agreement that waives age claims, 45 in a group layoff, and a waiver signed under a shorter deadline can be invalid. If you're under 40, no federal window applies and the deadline in your packet may be real, so confirm it in writing and ask for more time if you need it. Use whatever window you have to read the release terms, especially non-disparagement and no-lawsuit clauses, and don't stall past a real deadline, because offers can be withdrawn.
Can I collect unemployment if I got severance from Georgia-Pacific?
Usually yes, though some states delay benefits until severance pay periods end, and lump sums are treated differently than salary continuation. Check your state's rules on our state benefit pages, and file immediately either way so your claim date is locked in.