Perdue Farms is laying off 293 employees at its turkey plant in Washington, Indiana.
“Perdue has made the difficult decision to eliminate the second production shift at our turkey operations in Washington, Indiana, effective October 10, 2025,” a Perdue spokesperson said in an email to WATT Global Media.
“Changes in consumer demand, decreasing turkey flocks, and how we produce and supply our products have impacted the Washington operations in recent years, making the change to one production shift necessary to achieve operational efficiencies. A decision like this, affecting our associates, is something we take very seriously. We value the many contributions of our Washington associates, and we are committed to doing all we can to support impacted associates during this transition.
The Indiana Department of Workforce Development and Washington Mayor David Rhoads were informed of the elimination of the shift and the jobs in a letter, signed by the plant’s director of operations, Colby Rigg.
The layoffs will be permanent, Rigg wrote in the letter, dated September 3. While the last day of work for the affected workers will be October 10, they won’t be separated from employment until November 2.
The reduction in operations at the turkey plant will not impact any of Perdue’s other operations in Indiana, which includes include a feed mill, grain receiving facility, hatchery, and breeder operations. There will also be no closures to farms, the company spokesperson said.
The decision to eliminate a shift comes at a time when turkey plant capacity in the United States is already at a decline. Earlier in 2025, Cargill closed its turkey plant in Springdale, Arkansas and Foster Farms closed its turkey plant in Turlock, California. Meanwhile, Butterball closed its turkey further processing plant in Jonesboro, Arkansas.
Perdue Farms, according to information from the WATTPoultry.com Top Poultry Companies Database, is the seventh largest turkey producer in the United States. During the past year, the company processed 298 million pounds of turkey.
Perdue is also the nation’s fifth-largest broiler producer and ninth largest feed producer.
