Tyson Foods moving corporate staff out of Illinois

Tyson Foods Inc. is moving jobs out of Illinois, along with other corporate heavyweights.

The biggest U.S. meat company by sales said on Wednesday it will relocate about 1,000 corporate employees from its offices in Chicago and suburban Downers Grove, along with those in Dakota Dunes, South Dakota, to its headquarters in Springdale, Arkansas.

It is the latest shakeup for Tyson, which has about 1,000 employees in its Chicago-area and South Dakota offices. The meat company has about 120,000 employees, with about 114,000 of them working in production plants.

A company spokeswoman said no layoffs are associated with the relocations.

According to a release from Tyson Foods, all of the corporate team members from Dakota Dunes, Chicago and Downers Grove will be moved to their corporate headquarters in Springdale, Arkansas beginning in 2023.

The release stated that the move aims to increase team member agility and enable faster decision-making.

Tyson's diverse portfolio of products and brands gives us an unmatched strategic advantage to serve our customers, said President and CEO of Tyson Foods Donnie King, "Bringing together our talented team members and businesses allows us to share perspectives and ideas, while also enabling us to quickly solve problems and provide innovative products and solutions that our customers deserve." The members of the Tyson family, which founded Tyson Foods, and several top executives in Arkansas have been based for a long time.

A spokesman for Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker said that Tyson is making decisions based on its unique corporate needs and growing in other parts of the state. In August, Tyson said that an expansion project at a Caseyville, Illinois plant will create 250 jobs.

Tyson Foods has announced that its world headquarters will be expanding. The expansion will include indoor and outdoor spaces for collaboration, connection, and creativity. The release stated that it will also include features that will improve team members work experience by accelerating change and innovation through diverse and dynamic spaces, including state-of-the-art technology. The release said additional details will be released as the project progresses. Some details will include information on multi-year campus development and the remodeling of some existing facilities.

Tyson's decision was a blow to Chicago's business community after Citadel said in June it was moving its global headquarters from the city to Miami. Boeing will move its headquarters to Virginia from Chicago this year, and Caterpillar plans to relocate to Texas from a Chicago suburb.

Kellogg K.N, which is the corporate headquarters for its largest business, snacks, has announced a split into three independent companies this summer.

Tyson acquired the Chicago office when it acquired Jimmy Dean sausage maker Hillshire Brands in 2014. It then ran its prepared foods business there.

In the last week, Tyson said Noelle O'Mara, who was group president of prepared foods, had left the job and would be replaced by Stewart Glendinning, who was chief financial officer. John R. Tyson, a great-grandson of the company's founder, took over as finance chief.

The shares of Tyson fell by 1.2% on Wednesday and are down 24% this year.