- Bimbo QSR has laid off their second shift production team due to lower sales.
- The company initally invested $25 million in the plant.
- Watch the video to hear from local laid off workers about their current prospects.
BROADCAST TRANSCRIPT
Just two year and a half years ago, the Bimbo QSR factory brought nearly 300 jobs to Valdosta. Now that number is dwindling.
"You don't treat people any kinda way. You treat people the way they want to be treated and talked to."
I'm Malia Thomas, your neighborhood reporter in Valdosta.
A neighborhood reached out to me about a series of layoffs at a major production facility in town.
Now, I'm following back up.
This is Annie Johnson, former second shift production worker at Bimbo QSR, a global baking company with a plant in the Azalea City.
She tells me she and her fellow second shift workers reporter to work early for a meeting. As they were preparing to enter their station for work, they were told that wouldn't be necessary.
"When they started the meeting, the plant manager... he started reading, saying that that we was going to be laid off due to sales and they was going to consolidate 1st and 3rd shift together."
Annie told me while the former workers were offered a severance package and unemployment, those expenses would only cover about $360 per week, less than half their wages on a normal week.
They're also never allowed to work at Grupo Bimbo or their subsidiaries again.
"It's not going to take care of our bills... our insurance ends on the 30th of this month. We will no longer have health insurance."
Bimbo QSR brought 74 jobs to Valdosta in late 2021, with starting wages ranging from $19-$25 an hour, higher than Valdosta's average wage of $16.65 an hour.
Their initial investment into the Valdosta area was $25 million.
In late 2022, they announced plans for a second plant with an investment of $200 million.
I met with several of the laid off workers and reached out to a rep at Bimbo QSR.
They did confirm they let go of 20+ workers due to lower sales.
A worker who wishes to not have her face appear on camera tells me she doesn't understand why these layoffs are happening if they've already got plans on expanding.
"We were working hard at getting our production, our numbers up, and to have this happen to us, it's just not fair."
As of now, there are no updates on Group Bimbo's second plant facility and whether those 295 jobs will be affected. In Valdosta, I'm Malia Thomas, ABC27.
