Tyson Foods in Pittsylvania County will continue to hire until it reaches full capacity in mid-2024. So far, the company has hired about half of the people it plans to employ.
“At this point, I have about 215 employees of the expected 400,” plant manager Nancy Frank said in an interview after Tyson’s grand opening ceremony Tuesday. These jobs include positions in both management and production.
These positions will pay between $17 and $25.50 per hour, according to Tyson communications specialist MaKenzie Williams.
“I have just a few jobs available right now, and we’ll be adding more as we put each production line on,” Frank said. “We’ll be looking next month to hire for the third line.”
And Tyson will continue to ramp up production until it reaches full capacity, which will likely be mid-2024, she said.
Despite the current low unemployment in Virginia, Frank said that hiring the first half of Tyson’s workforce “exceeded expectations.”
The Virginia Economic Development Partnership aided Tyson Foods in developing recruitment materials, assisting with the online application process and providing data about the level of interest for particular jobs, Frank said.
The facility in Pittsylvania is a $300 million project, and the company’s first “smart” facility, “marking the deployment of multiple innovation pilots and prototypes at scale,” according to a release.
This means that the facility will be highly automated and will focus on preparing pre-cut chicken, not whole bird processing, according to Tyson’s website.
At the grand opening ceremony, multiple speakers celebrated the company’s investment in Danville, including Gov. Glenn Youngkin and Secretary of Agriculture Matt Lohr.
Tyson is also investing in its future workforce by partnering with Danville Community College.
“Tyson’s will create a maintenance technology training program, which represents a growing field with competitive pay and great opportunities,” Youngkin said. “It is partnerships like these that enhance and accelerate opportunities for students to graduate with an industry-recognized credential and bring their skills immediately into the workforce.”
All of Tyson’s applications are done online, Franks said, where applicants can see the jobs available and the facility itself.
