Governor Of California PANICS As PepsiCo Closes Last Plant!

Beverage maker Pepsi is [music] shutting

down its manufacturing facility on

>> a lot of a big group of people just

thrown out your service. Nothing.

>> So about 150 workers will be out of a

job come the new year after PepsiCo

announced [music]

production operations will end.

>> I've never seen something like this.

[music] A big company acting this way is

deplorable. California's governor is

scrambling as PepsiCo shuts down its

final plant in the state. When a company

that's been operating for generations

pulls the plug overnight, wiping out

hundreds of union jobs without warning,

it exposes how fragile the state's

economic control really is. PepsiCo has

confirmed multiple plant closures as

part of a nationwide restructuring

driven by falling snack demand, rising

costs, and aggressive corporate

consolidation.

>> The Pepsi plant has been here gosh,

since I was a child. Um, and I I know

that they have been big sponsors in the

community over the years. They have

sponsored those [music] little league

teams. Thursday, employees arrived to

work to find out that history will be

ending soon.

>> PepsiCo closed long operating plants

with immediate effect, catching workers

off guard as they arrived for normal

shifts and were told within minutes that

operations were permanently ending.

These facilities had been running for

decades and were deeply tied to local

economies, making the sudden closures

especially disruptive. The second shift

of workers got the news.

>> I have a daughter in school. I have a

house. You know, come on. Uh, y'all

can't do people like that. Y'all a big

company. At least give us a heads up.

>> Employees who were working at the end of

the week found themselves unemployed by

the next with no advanced notice and no

opportunity to prepare. The speed of the

shutdowns matters because it shows how

quickly a major corporation can erase

stable, long-term jobs through a single

internal decision. Today, workers were

notified when they arrived to work they

would be off the job as of today, but

get pay and benefits for 60 days.

>> When closures happen this fast, the

impact goes beyond workers. Cities lose

employers overnight, and state

leadership is left reacting after the

damage is already done, exposing how

little control governments have once

corporate decisions are finalized.

>> Everybody doesn't know how they're going

to take care of their kids. They don't

know how they're going to put the kids

through school and stuff like that. So,

it's a shock to everybody right now. I'm

still in shock.

>> What makes these shutdowns alarming is

that they are not isolated to one city

or one bad facility. PepsiCo has

confirmed multiple plant closures and

production shutdowns across California,

Florida, New York, and Illinois,

signaling a coordinated pullback rather

than a local failure. Several of these

sites were long-standing operations,

some running for more than half a

century. And in multiple cases,

manufacturing was eliminated entirely

while limited warehouse or distribution

functions remained. That pattern matters

because it shows PepsiCo shrinking its

US manufacturing footprint by design,

not reacting to a single problem. Today,

a Pepsi bottling plant that [music] has

been in Chicago for decades closed

unexpectedly. Shocked employees at that

southside plant are suddenly unemployed.

Once closures appear across multiple

states at the same time, the message

changes. This stops being a regional

labor issue and becomes a national

restructuring move. One that puts

pressure on state leaders who now have

to explain why legacy employers are

disappearing on their watch.

>> There is a lot of uncertainty for about

a 100 workers at the Muny PepsiCo

distribution center. The company just

announced plans to close that location.

[music] PepsiCo's own performance shows

why these closures are happening now.

The company has reported weaker snack

demand in North America with consumers

buying fewer traditional chips and

packaged snacks as prices rise and

habits change. At the same time,

operating costs have climbed. Energy,

transportation, labor, and compliance

costs have made older, less efficient

plants harder to justify, especially

when corporate leadership is under

pressure to protect margins. PepsiCo has

responded by consolidating production

into fewer facilities and trimming what

it makes. PepsiCo will offer more budget

friendly snacks, launch cleaner and high

protein options, [music] and cut costs

next year. To do so, it plans to close

some plants and trim about 20% of its

products.

>> This is not a short-term pause. PepsiCo

has signaled a broader reset by planning

to cut nearly 20% of its US product

lineup by 2026, showing that these

shutdowns are tied to a long-term

restructuring strategy, not a temporary

slowdown. These closures didn't happen

in a vacuum. PepsiCo has been under

sustained pressure from large investors,

including activist funds, to cut costs,

streamline operations, and improve

returns as growth slows.

>> The company has been coming under

pressure from investor Elliott

Management just rolled out a new plan to

boost [music] profits.

>> That pressure changes how decisions are

made. Instead of gradual adjustments,

companies move fast, shut

underperforming assets, and prioritize

financial efficiency over workforce

stability. Speed becomes a feature, not

a mistake. When investor demands set the

timeline, communities and workers are no

longer part of the equation. The result

is abrupt shutdowns that satisfy

shareholders while leaving cities and

state leaders scrambling to manage the

fallout.

>> Yeah, they were ready to go to work out.

They found out at about 5:45 this

morning that this decades old Pepsi

plant was going to be closed for good.

The workers affected by these closures

are not easily replaceable. These plants

employed unionized, long tenured

workers, many with 20 to 30 years of

service, earning stable wages that

supported families and entire

neighborhoods. These are manufacturing

and logistics jobs that do not transfer

cleanly into today's job market. Most

workers are mid-career or late career,

meaning retraining is harder, relocation

is costly, and comparable pay is rare.

Losing these positions creates long-term

damage, not short-term disruption. Pepsi

says the building is pretty old, has its

physical limitations, and these

employees are trying to figure out what

they're going to do next. When jobs like

these disappear, the impact spreads

quickly. Local spending drops, small

businesses feel it, and communities

built around steady industrial work lose

their economic anchor almost overnight.

A significant portion of the displaced

workforce was near retirement. Workers

in their late 50s lost positions they

expected to hold for the remainder of

their careers, forcing an unexpected

return to the job market with limited

options at similar pay levels.

>> Says he worked as a forklift operator at

this back of the yards Pepsi plant. But

Gonzalez and several other employees

were told this morning that the plant

was shutting down. This timing sharply

increases the damage of the closures.

Retirement plans built over decades are

interrupted. Income stability is lost

and financial obligations such as

healthcare and education remain fixed

while earnings disappear. And guys, make

sure to subscribe, like, and comment why

you like this video for a chance to win

a new Apple MacBook.