EAGLE MOUNTAIN, Utah — It's been a scary couple of days for the more than 700 employees working at the Tyson Foods plant in Eagle Mountain.
Tyson Foods announced this past week that it is shutting down a number of plants and laying off thousands of employees across the country due to a cattle shortage. The plant in Eagle Mountain is on the chopping block.
"We have a mortgage to pay, we have a lot of bills, we have kids,” said Josh Austin, an employee at Tyson Foods. "Not having another job lined up is scary."
"I saw a lot of people just worry and talk about unemployment and not be able to find jobs in any other places," said Austin Campbell, another Tyson worker.
"I never heard about anything previously,” said Austin. “I didn't think a cattle shortage would affect my job that much, seeing as Tyson’s a huge company."
With the plant closing, employees were told they'd be out of a job by Oct. 12, leaving them roughly 60 days to figure out what comes next.
"Two months is not a very long time to get interviews, to get different jobs,” said Jessi Campbell, Austin Campbell's wife. "So for me, I started stressing. Like, am I going to have to go back to work? Do we need to put our kids in daycare?"
It's especially bad timing as summer break comes to an end.
"School is starting and back-to-school supplies, kids wanting new clothes, and obviously I want to provide that for them,” said Kayla Austin, Josh Austin's wife.
Some say they're hoping there will be severance pay to give folks some extra time to figure out a new job.
"On Friday, the plant manager talked to us and was saying she was going to ask corporate for severance for at least maintenance workers, but as of right now, it's unknown,” Josh Austin said.
FOX 13 News reached out to Tyson Foods on Friday and Sunday but did not get a response.
