PepsiCo is in the middle of a sweeping retrenchment of its U.S. manufacturing footprint, shuttering multiple factories and cutting hundreds of jobs in key markets. The closures span snacks and beverages, touch both legacy and recently upgraded plants, and are hitting workers just as inflation and housing costs remain elevated. I see a pattern emerging that goes beyond one company's restructuring and speaks to how corporate cost cutting is reshaping industrial jobs in American cities.
The headline figure of six U.S. factories reflects a cluster of confirmed shutdowns and partial closures that, taken together, amount to a significant pullback in PepsiCo's physical presence. While each decision is framed as a response to efficiency needs or changing demand, the practical result is the same for workers and local governments: fewer paychecks, less tax revenue, and more uncertainty about what replaces a closed plant.
Six factories, one corporate strategy
The clearest way to understand PepsiCo's current strategy is to look at the geography of its shutdowns. Reporting on the company's recent "shutdown spree" describes six major U.S. factories being taken offline, with thousands of jobs affected across multiple states, underscoring how concentrated this wave of closures has become in a short period of time. That cluster of decisions, laid out in a single overview of six U.S. factories, frames the current moment as a coordinated retrenchment rather than a series of unrelated local events.Within that broader pattern, the company is targeting both snack and beverage operations, often in long established facilities that once anchored local employment. Some of the affected plants sit in traditional industrial corridors that have already seen waves of deindustrialization, while others are in fast growing Sun Belt metros where demand for consumer goods is still strong. Public business listings for PepsiCo and its affiliates, including locations such as regional snack facilities and distribution hubs, show how deeply embedded the company is in local economies, which makes each closure more than just a line item in a quarterly report.
Orlando and the Frito-Lay cuts
The most dramatic single hit in this wave is in Florida, where PepsiCo is shutting down two Frito-Lay manufacturing facilities in Orlando. Reporting from early Nov states that the food giant is closing the snack plants in Orlando, Fla., a move that will terminate about 500 workers when operations cease, with production expected to wind down by May 9, 2026. Those job losses at the two Orlando Frito-Lay facilities are among the largest single-location cuts in the current round of restructuring.Additional coverage on the same decision notes that Pepsi, identified by its ticker PEP, is closing two Orlando Frito-Lay Facilities and that workers at those plants do not have bumping rights, meaning they cannot automatically move into other roles within the company. The description of Pepsi closing two Orlando Frito-Lay Facilities highlights how vulnerable line workers are when a plant is shut outright rather than gradually downsized. I read that lack of internal mobility as a sign that, for many of these employees, the end of production is also the end of their relationship with the company.
Detroit and the beverage retrenchment
PepsiCo's beverage operations are also being reshaped, with Detroit emerging as a key example of how the company is pulling back from older plants. Earlier this year, PepsiCo said it would shut down manufacturing at a U.S. drinks plant in Detroit, a move detailed in a report dated Jul 24, 2025 that described the company's plan to end local production while keeping other parts of its North America snacks and drinks network running. The decision to shut manufacturing operations at the Detroit plant fits a broader pattern of consolidating beverage output into fewer, more automated facilities.Separate reporting on the same restructuring wave notes that Detroit, Michigan, is facing a partial closure that contributes to over 400 employee layoffs across several affected sites, tying the city's experience to a wider set of cuts. In that account, the Detroit move is grouped with other actions that collectively amount to over 400 employee layoffs, underscoring how even "partial" closures can have full scale consequences for workers. For a city that has spent years trying to rebuild its manufacturing base, the loss of a branded drinks plant is both an economic and symbolic setback.
Chicago, earlier closures, and the long tail of job losses
The current six factory tally sits on top of earlier closures that already signaled PepsiCo's willingness to exit long standing urban plants. In Chicago, the company decided in late 2024 to close its last remaining plant in the city, with a letter from Pepsi obtained by the Chicago Sun-Times stating that 79 employees were laid off and that a total of 150 people were affected by the time the plant was shut down. Those figures, detailed in coverage of the Pepsi plant closure in Chicago, show how even a single facility can ripple through a local labor market when it is the last of its kind.Elsewhere, PepsiCo has been trimming smaller operations that still matter a great deal to the communities that host them. One account from Jul 25, 2025 describes how the company "Shuts Down Local Manufacturing Operations" with 80+ Laid Off, specifying that at least 80 workers are losing their jobs beginning September 27, 2025. That local case of Shuts Down Local Manufacturing Operations: 80+ Laid Off may not grab national headlines, but it adds to the cumulative toll of the company's restructuring. When I line up Chicago, that smaller local plant, and the current six factory wave, the throughline is a steady erosion of mid scale industrial jobs tied to a single corporate employer.
Frito-Lay plants across states and the national footprint
Beyond Orlando, PepsiCo is also closing Frito-Lay plants in other states, tightening its snack manufacturing footprint across the country. A detailed report dated Nov 11, 2025 lays out how the company is shutting Frito-Lay plants in Florida, California, and New York as part of cost cutting measures, describing these actions as part of a broader restructuring of its supply chain. The account of Frito-Lay plants in Florida and California closing, along with a New York facility, confirms that the Orlando cuts are not an isolated move but one node in a multi state contraction.Those snack plant closures sit alongside other PepsiCo locations that, while not yet shuttered, illustrate the scale of the company's U.S. presence and the potential for further change. Public listings for facilities such as a Frito-Lay production site and a separate Pepsi bottling facility show how many communities still depend on the company for manufacturing jobs. When I compare those active plants with the list of closures in Florida, California, and New York, it is clear that the current six factory wave is significant but not yet a full scale retreat from U.S. production.
What the layoffs reveal about PepsiCo's priorities
The human impact of these decisions comes into sharp focus in places where detailed worker counts are available. One report from Feb 26, 2025 describes a PepsiCo facility that currently employs 287 workers, all of whom are listed as "affected workers" in a Department of Labor WARN notice, and notes that the plant has been operating since 1997. That same account points out that PepsiCo's revenue declined in the prior year and that the company had already laid off around 400 workers in a separate round of cuts, framing the 287 affected workers flagged by the Department of Labor as part of a longer running effort to trim labor costs.When I put that WARN notice alongside the Orlando figure of about 500 terminations, the Chicago tally of 79 employees and 150 people affected, the local case of at least 80 workers laid off, and the over 400 employee layoffs tied to Detroit and related actions, a clear picture emerges of a company prioritizing efficiency and shareholder returns over preserving headcount. The precise total number of jobs cut across all six factories is unverified based on available sources, but the pattern of hundreds of workers at a time being labeled "affected" is unmistakable. For the people behind those numbers, the corporate logic of consolidation translates into lost income, disrupted careers, and a scramble to find new work in labor markets that may not have another PepsiCo scale employer waiting in the wings.
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