Hundreds of Tyson employees leave as company consolidates to NW Arkansas

According to people familiar with the matter, hundreds of Tyson Foods Inc. employees from two of its largest business units plan to leave the company as it consolidates its corporate offices to northwest Arkansas next year.
In October, the largest U.S. meat supplier by sales said that it planned to close its offices in Chicago, Downers Grove, Ill., and Dakota Dunes, S.D., which currently house many of Tyson’s TSN, -1.01% corporate employees in its prepared foods, beef and pork divisions. The company has said that about 1,000 employees total work in those locations.
Workers have until Nov. 14 to decide if they want to relocate to the company’s Springdale, Ark., headquarters in early 2023, Tyson said. The company has said that the planned office closures are part of an effort to consolidate its corporate employees in one place, in order to improve collaboration and speed up decision making.
According to people familiar with the matter, three-quarters of the 500 employees in Tyson’s South Dakota office told the company they wouldn’t make the move to Arkansas and planned to depart by about the time the office closes in mid-2023. The people said that more than 90% of the employees in Tyson’s Chicago office have declined to relocate.