CHARLOTTE/GREENSBORO – Kellogg’s alerted the North Carolina Department of Commerce last week that it is closing plants in Charlotte and Greensboro and will lay off nearly 500 workers.The effective date for the closures is July 29, according to the WARN report filed with the state. The company also announced layoffs in Ohio, Texas and its home state of Michigan.Kellogg’s, which makes cereal and snack foods, announced in February it planned to close 39 distribution centers. Nearly 1,200 full-time Kellogg employees could be impacted by the moves, which are being made after the company decided to abandon direct-store delivery in favor of a warehouse model of distribution. In all, 483 employees are affected by the N.C. closures (250 in Greensboro, 233 in Charlotte), the filing said.”While this is the right move for the company to achieve our long-term objectives, it was a difficult decision because of its impact on employees,” Kris Charles, senior vice president of global corporate affairs, said in a statement earlier this year.Caterpillar also announced it plans to lay off 85 employees at its Morganton manufacturing facility, while Care Services, LLC in Raleigh, a long-term care pharmacy and hospice provider, is closing and 47 workers will lose their jobs, the Commerce report said.
