Laid off from Greenbrier.
Greenbrier's Gunderson plant in Portland entered the train-making business in 1919, and the company cut Gunderson staff in earlier downturns before announcing in 2023 that the plant's rail work would close. When production slowed again in 2026, Greenbrier announced furloughs at its plants in Kennett, Missouri and Paragould, Arkansas.
What we know about Greenbrier severance and layoffs
- Up to 400 of 600 workers at Kennett and Paragould told of 2026 furloughs
- 101 Gunderson railcar jobs in Greenbrier's January 2023 layoff notice to Oregon
- 699 of 777 jobs at Romania's Arad plant in the closing announced April 2025
- 3,700 people, more than 20% of Greenbrier's workforce, cut by April 2020
- 7 filings by Greenbrier units in our WARN tracker, 2013 to 2026
The most recent Greenbrier layoff we've found
On October 26, 2026, Greenbrier told analysts it had adjusted production rates and headcount to match demand and had sold its Omaha repair shop to another operator, the earnings call transcript shows. The latest Greenbrier filing our WARN tracker holds is Kennett's, from January 2026.
What Greenbrier layoffs have meant for employees
If a Greenbrier notice puts you on furlough, the 2026 one shows how much it can leave unsettled. Kennett's WARN letter to Missouri said people could be furloughed in phases from March 24, and that Greenbrier was still finalizing which job classifications were affected and how many people were in each, details it said a supplemental notice would carry. The letter said it was sent so Missouri's Rapid Response team could coordinate reemployment and retraining help for the workers it covered. If you got that letter and a supplemental notice follows, it's worth keeping the two together, since the January letter left the job classifications and their counts to the later one.
Greenbrier has pointed some of its people toward its other plants when it cut one. When it suspended Gunderson's railcar production in 2020, Chairman and CEO William Furman said in the April 2020 release that the company planned to keep and deploy some of its most experienced people at other locations in its network. In 2026 a Greenbrier spokesperson told KAIT that the Marmaduke plant, which the furloughs wouldn't touch, would have opportunities for furloughed workers. On the October 2026 call, a Motley Fool transcript shows, management said it adjusts the workforce to demand so it can bring people back as demand improves. If you're furloughed and Greenbrier offers you work at another of its plants, you can ask about the hours and what would happen to your seniority at your plant, and the drive is worth working out too.
Greenbrier tied its factory cuts to volume in 2001, 2023 and 2026. In its June 2001 release, the chief executive put industry orders at about a third of their level two years earlier; the 2023 Gunderson notice pointed to a slowdown in business, as OPB reported; and the 2026 furloughs were put down to reduced production. An executive also told OPB that the Gunderson decision was tied to Greenbrier's 2019 purchase of two Arkansas plants.
About half of the roughly 10,000 employees counted in Greenbrier's fiscal 2026 10-K work in Mexico, and on the October call management put the US workforce at more than 2,000. That's worth holding onto when a company-wide total makes news. The 2001 release named substantial layoffs in Mexico, at Gunderson-Concarril, and at TrentonWorks in Nova Scotia, and the April 2020 release said that year's North American factory cuts came primarily in Mexico, so a total can say little about a US plant. The notice filed for a plant is the closer measure of what happened there. The same 10-K puts its roughly 5,000 union-represented employees mainly in Mexico and Europe, and Kennett's letter said no union represented that plant's workers, who had no bumping rights.
In state records, Greenbrier's filings carry names like Greenbrier Rail Services, Greenbrier Manufacturing and Gunderson Rail Service LLC, and the Kennett letter itself came from Greenbrier Central LLC. Repair-shop jobs have also changed hands. When the GBW repair venture with Watco ended in 2018, 12 of its shops went back to Greenbrier, and Greenbrier sold its Omaha shop in 2026 to an operator that kept it running. The filings we count in our WARN tracker include Omaha's 2019 notice and leave out a 2016 filing by GBW itself. If you were furloughed at Kennett or Paragould, the rules for filing a claim are on our Missouri unemployment benefits and Arkansas unemployment benefits pages, and Oregon's are on Oregon unemployment benefits.
A sourced history of Greenbrier layoffs
January 2026, Kennett and Paragould furloughs
Greenbrier told 600 workers at its Kennett, Missouri and Paragould, Arkansas plants that up to 400 would be furloughed from March, KAIT reported. Its Missouri notice listed 94 Kennett workers for a temporary furlough from about March 24.
April 2025, Arad, Romania, plant closing
Greenbrier announced the closing of the Astra Rail wagon plant in Arad, citing economic and logistical difficulties, with collective redundancies for 699 of its 777 employees, Eurofound recorded. Two other Romanian plants were to take its orders.
January 2023, Gunderson rail closing announced in Portland
Greenbrier told Oregon officials it could lay off as many as 101 at its Gunderson rail plant, in single digits at first, starting as soon as March 23, OPB reported.
April 2020, Gunderson railcar production suspended
Greenbrier suspended new railcar production at Gunderson, and its April 2020 release said the cuts there would affect about 200 production and office workers, all entitled to severance. It had cut 3,700 people so far that fiscal year, more than 20% of its workforce.
November 2012, Tucson repair shop layoffs
Greenbrier Rail Services laid off 28 of 90 Tucson workers after most signed union cards, and before a September 2013 hearing announced plans to close the shop, the NLRB said. A federal judge's temporary injunction in March 2014 ordered it reopened and the workers offered reinstatement.
February 2009, layoffs, early retirements and wage cuts
Layoffs and early retirements that week would affect about 150 employees, most of them factory overhead at Gunderson, Concarril in Mexico and repair shops, Greenbrier said in its February 2009 release, which also announced wage cuts.
June 2001, factory layoffs in a rail supply slump
Greenbrier had laid off more than 1,500 factory workers that year, 40% of its three North American plants' staff, and sent home 125 of Gunderson's 1,200 workers in May, its June 2001 release said.
What to do if you're laid off from Greenbrier
- File for unemployment in the state where you worked. Benefits run from your filing date, and severance usually doesn't block you. Greenbrier's biggest hubs: Missouri, Arkansas, Oregon. 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 Greenbrier's hub states run: Missouri, Arkansas, Oregon, 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.
Greenbrier layoff and severance questions
What severance has Greenbrier given laid-off employees?
When Greenbrier suspended railcar production at Gunderson in 2020, its April 2020 release said affected employees were entitled to severance packages tied to years of service, with Greenbrier-paid severance bridging to government programs. The 2026 Kennett and Paragould cuts were announced as furloughs, and the company told KAIT its Marmaduke plant would provide opportunities for those furloughed, with employees keeping their seniority and benefits for 90 days. If you're offered other work while furloughed, it may be worth asking how the 90 days would apply to you.
Is Greenbrier closing its Kennett or Paragould plant?
Not by the company's account in January 2026, when Greenbrier's Jack Isselmann told KAIT the plants weren't closing and that he expected the furloughs to last less than six months. Kennett's notice to Missouri also called the action a temporary furlough. Neither those sources nor Greenbrier's October 2026 earnings call says whether or when the furloughed workers returned.
How many Greenbrier filings are in the WARN tracker?
Seven filings by Greenbrier units are in our WARN tracker. Six date from 2013 to 2023, and the seventh, from January 2026, is a Kennett, Missouri notice covering 94 jobs. Oregon's 2023 Gunderson notice is among them, and Oregon's WARN list files it under Greenbrier Companies, but our archive has no Arkansas file, so the Paragould furlough isn't one of the seven.
What happened to the Gunderson plant in Portland?
Greenbrier announced in January 2023 that rail operations at Gunderson would end and said marine work would continue at least into early 2024, OPB reported. Its management said in October 2026 that Greenbrier had sold the Gunderson facility about three years before and that it still runs under the Gunderson name as a private business, the call's Motley Fool transcript shows.