GREELEY, Colo.—JBS Swift & Co. is ahead of its schedule for hiring 1,300 second-shift employees for its meatpacking plant in Greeley.
JBS Swift officials aimed to have all the employees hired by the end of November.
About 800 workers have been hired so far, putting the company at about 110 percent of its hiring projections for this time, said Doug Schult, head of employee and labor relations for the company.
Swift & Co. consolidated its two shifts into one in 2005. In July, Latin America’s largest beef processor, JBS S.A., bought the company and reinstated the second shift in hopes of helping the Greeley plant run at full capacity.
Schult said most of the new employees were hired from Weld and Larimer counties.
“We were hopeful all along that the employee base was there in Weld and Larimer and so far that’s what we’ve found. We haven’t had to stretch out into Nebraska or Wyoming. There’s been plenty of people looking for a position with us who are pretty much in this immediate area,” he said.
The plant’s second shift has started running with the existing employees.
Schult declined to say what volumes the shift is producing. Company officials expect the shift to run at full capacity in 2008.
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Information from: Greeley Tribune,
