Snack Giant PepsiCo Shuts Down Historic Florida Factory
American factory workers are confronting another significant blow, this time delivered by one of the nation's largest snack producers. PepsiCo, the corporate behemoth behind popular brands like Lays, Cheetos, and Pop Corners, permanently closed a Frito-Lay manufacturing and shipping plant in Orlando, Florida, on 4 November.
According to official WARN notices, the immediate consequence was the termination of 422 PepsiCo employees. The situation is set to worsen, as an additional 46 staff members at a nearby warehouse are scheduled to lose their jobs next May when that facility also shuts its doors.
A Trend of Cost-Cutting and Automation
The closure marks the end of an era for a facility that had been operational since 1965, with generations of workers having passed through its doors. The company attributes the decision to a 2% decline in third-quarter 2025 sales in North America, prompting a strategic shift towards cost reduction.
This is not an isolated incident for PepsiCo. In June, the company shuttered a 50-year-old plant in Rancho Cucamonga, California, impacting 432 staffers. This was followed by the closure of a PopCorners snacks plant in Liberty, New York, in February, which resulted in 287 workers receiving pink slips. In total, PepsiCo workers have endured three mass layoff events this year, affecting over 1,100 employees.
On a recent earnings call, CEO Ramon Laguarta explicitly stated the company's new direction. He confirmed PepsiCo is 'clearly going after some manufacturing nodes that are not needed anymore', which involves shutting down older plants and increasingly replacing human roles with automation.
Part of a Wider National Layoff Crisis
The job losses at PepsiCo reflect a disturbing nationwide pattern. Major corporations across the United States are slashing their workforce to contend with weaker consumer spending, persistent inflation, and the rising implementation of AI tools capable of performing white-collar tasks.
Data from the layoff tracking firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas paints a stark picture. It estimated that employers cut 153,074 jobs in October alone. This figure represents a staggering 175% increase compared to the same period last year and a 183% spike from September, marking the most severe single-month rise since 2003.
Andy Challenger, the firm's chief revenue officer, noted the unusual timing, stating, 'Over the last decade, companies have shied away from layoffs in the fourth quarter. But this year, with social media and investor pressure for efficiency, that caution appears to have disappeared.'
The scale of the trend is immense. This month, Amazon is cutting 30,000 jobs, Verizon has slashed 15,000, and Target let go of nearly 2,000 white-collar staffers. Other household names like UPS, Intel, Microsoft, Ford, and Disney have also announced hundreds of job cuts this year.
In a statement to the Daily Mail, a PepsiCo spokesperson said, 'This action was driven by business needs, and we are committed to treating every impacted employee with care — providing transition assistance, career support, and pay and benefits during this time.' However, for the hundreds of workers in Florida and beyond, the reality is a painful price paid for corporate restructuring.
