Laid off from Hershey.

What Hershey layoffs have meant for employees

The time between a Hershey closing announcement and the layoffs has varied. Velva's workers heard about their plant's closing the morning it was made public, about two months before it was set to shut, while Hershey's July 2007 letter on Oakdale spread layoffs in phases into early 2008. Some closings came with a way to follow the work. At Velva, hourly workers were offered a move to another Hershey plant, and those who declined were to be offered a severance package, The Forum reported, and the June 2010 8-K planned to move part of the old Hershey plant's workforce along with its production. Where a transfer comes alongside a package, the costs of relocating, or of a much longer drive, are worth setting against what the package would pay, since at Velva it was one or the other.

At Oakdale and Reading, a union local figures in the closing terms on record. Hershey negotiated a plant closing agreement with Teamsters Local 386 at Oakdale, and its letter said represented employees may have the right to move into a position held by another employee when their own was eliminated. At Reading, the account of the severance formula came from the business manager of Chocolate Workers Local 464, speaking to The Philadelphia Inquirer. About 28% of Hershey's workforce was under collective bargaining agreements as 2025 ended, per its 2025 10-K, with talks due at six facilities in 2026, one in the U.S. If you're represented, those two closings show the kinds of terms Hershey closings have produced, a severance formula tied to years of service and, at Oakdale, a possible right to move into a position held by another employee when one's own was eliminated.

Hershey's count for a program can be a net figure. The February 2007 8-K put the supply chain plan's reduction at roughly 1,500 positions net, while the Los Angeles Times reported that about 3,000 of Hershey's 13,000 workers would lose their jobs in the transformation, twice the filing's net number, with as many as 900 of them in Hershey itself. If a new program is announced with one company-wide count, it's worth knowing whether that count is net, since a net count can sit well below the number of people who leave, as the 2007 figures did.

The 2024 program reached past the plants. Hershey's February 2024 8-K aimed it at selling, general and administrative spending along with the supply chain, and when about 200 jobs went that September, the company said in a statement Food Dive quoted that it was evolving its capabilities, systems and ways of working. If you're handed separation papers under it, there's more on what's commonly open to discussion in negotiating a severance agreement.

The reasons Hershey gave were about plants, processes and costs. At Velva its spokesperson pointed to a building that couldn't scale and a lot of manual processes, the 2007 plan was framed around fewer production lines and outsourced low value-added items, and the 2024 program around simplifying and automating processes. If one of these rounds took your job, the company's own reasons give you a plain account of the cut for a hiring manager, and there's more on the interview itself in explaining a layoff.

If you worked for Hershey in Pennsylvania, where the Reading plant closed and the old hometown factory's production was set to move across town, the steps for a claim there are on Pennsylvania unemployment benefits. For Illinois or North Dakota, home to the two Hershey-named filings in our WARN tracker, Illinois unemployment benefits and North Dakota unemployment benefits are the matching pages.

A sourced history of Hershey layoffs

• September 2024, about 200 layoffs

  Hershey said about 200 people, 1% of its 20,000-person workforce, were being laid off while it planned dozens of new roles in technology and data science, according to Food Dive.

• February 2024, Advancing Agility & Automation program approved

  Hershey's board approved the program on February 2 to cut supply chain, manufacturing and administrative spending and automate processes, estimating severance and separation benefits of $45 million to $60 million for planned workforce reductions, its February 2024 8-K said.

• August 2023, Velva, North Dakota, Dot's Pretzels plant closing

  Hershey said it would close Dot's flagship plant on October 27, affecting 27 employees, and a spokesperson told The Forum hourly workers could relocate to plants in Robinson, Illinois, or Lawrence, Kansas, while those choosing not to would be offered a severance package.

• February 2017, Margin for Growth program

  Hershey expected to cut about 15% of its global workforce, mostly hourly jobs outside the United States, with 2017 severance tied largely to its China business and a leaner corporate model, its 2017 10-K said.

• Second quarter 2016, Operational Optimization Program

  Hershey began consolidating production within certain facilities in China and North America, and its 2017 costs under the program were mainly severance for workforce planning in North America, the 2017 10-K shows.

• Mid-2015, productivity initiative

  Aimed at simplifying Hershey's organizational structure, the initiative ran through the second half of 2015 and brought a net reduction of about 300 positions, the majority of the departures by year's end, according to the 2017 10-K.

• June 2010, Project Next Century in Hershey, Pennsylvania

  Hershey planned to move production and part of the workforce from its century-old plant at 19 East Chocolate Avenue to an expanded West Hershey plant, expecting about 500 to 600 fewer jobs as technology and automation raised efficiency, its June 2010 8-K said.

• February 2009, Reading, Pennsylvania plant closing

  Hershey closed the York Peppermint Patties plant, cutting about 300 jobs as its lines moved to Monterrey, Mexico, and other U.S. sites, and Chocolate Workers Local 464's business manager described the workers' severance package to The Philadelphia Inquirer.

• 2007, Oakdale, California plant closing

  Hershey was closing the plant, eliminating all 575 jobs, with production headed to a new factory in Monterrey, Mexico, the Los Angeles Times reported in June. A July letter to officials set phased layoffs into early 2008 and cited a union plant closing agreement.

• February 2007, supply chain transformation announced

  Hershey set out a three-year plan to cut its production lines by more than a third, outsource low value-added items and build a plant in Monterrey, Mexico, for a net reduction of about 1,500 positions, its February 2007 8-K said.

What to do if you're laid off from Hershey

• File for unemployment in the state where you worked. Benefits run from your filing date, and severance usually doesn't block you. Hershey's biggest hubs: North Dakota, Illinois. 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 Hershey's hub states run: North Dakota, Illinois, 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.