---
title: "Amy's Kitchen Cuts About 260 Jobs | Metaintro"
canonical: "https://www.metaintro.com/blog/amys-kitchen-jobs-move-oregon-idaho"
language: "en"
author: "drashtigarach"
published: "2026-09-18T19:13:15.000Z"
modified: "2026-09-18T19:13:15.000Z"
---

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# Amy's Kitchen Cuts About 260 Jobs, but Its Oregon Plant Is Hiring Canning and Soup Crews

Amy's Kitchen will cut about 260 jobs as Santa Rosa closes and canning leaves Pocatello. What its Oregon plant pays, and what California law owes workers.

[![Drashti Garach](https://cdn.metaintro.com/rs:fill:40:40/q:72/plain/images/5719d740-e510-42bc-8017-e040d145f35f_1766029465094.png)Drashti Garach @DrashtiGarach](/blog/author/drashtigarach)

[September 18, 2026](/blog/archive/2026/09)13 min read

![Stainless steel soup kettles and a line of cans in a bright food plant](https://cdn.metaintro.com/rs:fill:1200:675/q:78/plain/images/10305.jpg)

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[Amy's Kitchen, the organic frozen food maker](https://www.amys.com/careers), will close its Santa Rosa manufacturing plant in phases and cut about [260 jobs](https://www.pressdemocrat.com/2026/09/17/amys-kitchen-santa-rosa-sonoma-county-jobs-plant-closure/) across its network, a plan staff heard on Thursday, September 17, 2026. [About 207 of those jobs](https://www.pressdemocrat.com/2026/09/17/amys-kitchen-santa-rosa-sonoma-county-jobs-plant-closure/) are in Santa Rosa, and about 51 are canning jobs in Pocatello, Idaho, where that line is moving to the company's plant in Medford, Oregon. So the headline number is a count of layoffs, not a count of jobs being carried to new towns. The production moves, and the Oregon plant is hiring for it right now. At [Metaintro](https://www.metaintro.com) we checked the company's own job board and California's layoff rules against the announcement, because the pay, the shifts and the legal notice period are what a worker in Sonoma County or southeast Idaho can actually act on.

## Which Jobs Are Being Cut, and Where Does the Work Go?

Two separate cuts sit inside the total. About [207 jobs are in Santa Rosa](https://www.pressdemocrat.com/2026/09/17/amys-kitchen-santa-rosa-sonoma-county-jobs-plant-closure/), where the whole plant on Northpoint Parkway is closing, and about 51 are in the canning operation at Pocatello, which moves to Medford.

The work is being sorted by product. Pocatello will expand as the company's [designated entrée facility](https://www.pressdemocrat.com/2026/09/17/amys-kitchen-santa-rosa-sonoma-county-jobs-plant-closure/), and Medford will specialize in pizza, soup and burritos. That split explains the odd geography. Idaho loses its canning crew but gains a bigger role as the entrée hub, while Oregon picks up canning on top of its pizza, soup and burrito lines.

The timing is phased rather than sudden. Layoffs start [late this year and conclude by summer 2027](https://hoodline.com/2026/09/amy-s-kitchen-shuts-santa-rosa-plant-shifts-260-jobs-to-idaho-and-oregon/), and the corporate headquarters stays in Petaluma. For a line worker that gap matters, because it is the window in which to find the next job while still drawing a paycheck.

The company frames the move as streamlining, with chief executive Paul Schiefer saying the network had become [more complex than our business needs today](https://www.pressdemocrat.com/2026/09/17/amys-kitchen-santa-rosa-sonoma-county-jobs-plant-closure/). Santa Rosa now produces only a small portion of total output.

## Is Amy's Kitchen Actually Hiring in Oregon Right Now?

Yes, and the evidence is on the company's own recruiting system rather than in any press statement. The [plant opportunities board](https://recruiting2.ultipro.com/AMY1001/JobBoard/ccd25ce1-01b6-4334-aadf-8fb195eb8eaf/?q=&o=postedDateDesc) listed 36 openings when we checked it, and almost every one sits at the Oregon plant, whose street address is in White City just north of Medford. That site is a big employer already, and its workforce grew to [950 in Medford](https://soredi.org/edge-amyskitchen/) after an expansion, according to a 2017 regional development profile, making it one of the largest employers in Southern Oregon.

The mix lines up with the work that is moving. Manufacturing Operator I (Canning) roles on second shift were posted on [September 2](https://recruiting2.ultipro.com/AMY1001/JobBoard/ccd25ce1-01b6-4334-aadf-8fb195eb8eaf/?q=&o=postedDateDesc), alongside several Cook II (Soup) roles on the same shift. Fresh operator, cook, refrigeration mechanic and warehouse roles went up in the days just before the announcement, with a batch dated [September 16](https://recruiting2.ultipro.com/AMY1001/JobBoard/ccd25ce1-01b6-4334-aadf-8fb195eb8eaf/?q=&o=postedDateDesc).

Idaho looks very different on the same board. The only Pocatello plant listing was a single Recruiter role posted on [July 31](https://recruiting2.ultipro.com/AMY1001/JobBoard/ccd25ce1-01b6-4334-aadf-8fb195eb8eaf/?q=&o=postedDateDesc). A plant that is about to become the entrée hub and is hiring a recruiter is a signal that production hiring may follow, but no production postings were live there yet.

> The layoffs are counted in California and Idaho, but the openings are already posted in Oregon, where the [plant board](https://recruiting2.ultipro.com/AMY1001/JobBoard/ccd25ce1-01b6-4334-aadf-8fb195eb8eaf/?q=&o=postedDateDesc) showed 36 openings when we checked.

## What Do the Oregon Jobs Pay, and What Are the Shifts?

The postings print their pay, which is more than most plant announcements do. A second shift canning operator earns [$21.50 an hour plus $1.00 for second shift](https://recruiting2.ultipro.com/AMY1001/JobBoard/ccd25ce1-01b6-4334-aadf-8fb195eb8eaf/OpportunityDetail?opportunityId=72f56f68-5660-410a-9db1-2c7566ae3eee), which the listing totals at $22.50 an hour, on a Monday to Friday schedule starting at noon.

Soup cooks sit a little lower. A Cook II on the soup line earns [$20.00 an hour plus the $1.00 shift premium](https://recruiting2.ultipro.com/AMY1001/JobBoard/ccd25ce1-01b6-4334-aadf-8fb195eb8eaf/OpportunityDetail?opportunityId=ab6990cc-5f2d-4ea7-91a3-c22b666428fb), for $21.00 an hour in total, and the role works every other weekend.

The early shift pays less and starts before dawn. A first shift Manufacturing Operator IV role lists pay of [$17.75 with hours from 3:30 am to 12:00 pm](https://recruiting2.ultipro.com/AMY1001/JobBoard/ccd25ce1-01b6-4334-aadf-8fb195eb8eaf/OpportunityDetail?opportunityId=cae9a5f4-00b5-4886-96be-cdf193044766), Monday to Friday plus one day every other weekend. The duties are kitchen prep, from weighing batches to prepping onions, carrots, spinach and cheese.

The perks are identical across the listings. Each one offers [weeks of on the job training](https://recruiting2.ultipro.com/AMY1001/JobBoard/ccd25ce1-01b6-4334-aadf-8fb195eb8eaf/OpportunityDetail?opportunityId=72f56f68-5660-410a-9db1-2c7566ae3eee), a 401k match of up to 4% after one year, parental leave, education reimbursement, a safety shoe program and affordable meals on site. Compare those numbers with what you earn now before you decide whether a move is worth it.

## What Skills Carry Over From Santa Rosa to Medford?

More than most displaced factory workers can say. The company describes its kitchens as hand work at scale, with [pizza crusts and tortillas hand-stretched](https://www.amys.com/our-story/our-kitchens), enchiladas hand-rolled and tofu made from scratch by trained tofu makers. Someone who has rolled burritos or prepped ingredients on a Santa Rosa line already has skills the Oregon postings ask for.

The canning role asks for more technical depth. An Operator I runs [multiple complex machines](https://recruiting2.ultipro.com/AMY1001/JobBoard/ccd25ce1-01b6-4334-aadf-8fb195eb8eaf/OpportunityDetail?opportunityId=72f56f68-5660-410a-9db1-2c7566ae3eee), some with programmable logic controllers, troubleshoots alongside mechanics and is responsible for food safety checkpoints such as cook times, temperatures and metal detection. Those are transferable skills well beyond one employer.

The entry route has a low bar. The mixing and heavy lifting posting asks for [at least 6 months of experience as heavy lifter](https://recruiting2.ultipro.com/AMY1001/JobBoard/ccd25ce1-01b6-4334-aadf-8fb195eb8eaf/OpportunityDetail?opportunityId=98a23c6f-8e08-4df4-bb57-cfd1b5cfc6ad), the ability to read simple instructions in English and Spanish, and to lift up to 50 pounds. It also warns that overtime is required in peak season, which is worth weighing if you have care duties.

## Can Santa Rosa Workers Transfer to Oregon or Idaho?

That is the question the announcement leaves open. The support package as described covers [separation packages, job-placement assistance and counseling](https://www.pressdemocrat.com/2026/09/17/amys-kitchen-santa-rosa-sonoma-county-jobs-plant-closure/) through the employee assistance program, and it makes no mention of transfer offers.

The company still describes itself on its careers page as having [2,000-plus employees](https://www.amys.com/careers) and names Santa Rosa, Medford, Pocatello and Petaluma as its locations, so there is more than one site to ask about.

The last round did include a transfer option. When the company cut [311 workers in October 2024](https://www.pressdemocrat.com/2024/10/03/amys-kitchen-lays-off-311-staffers-as-part-of-reorganization-plan-2/), departing staff were due a severance package and the choice to transfer to other locations or positions to be determined. So asking directly is reasonable, and the answer should be in writing.

Advocates are asking the same thing. The [Food Empowerment Project](https://www.pressdemocrat.com/2026/09/17/amys-kitchen-santa-rosa-sonoma-county-jobs-plant-closure/) urged the company to give affected workers clear information about severance, healthcare, transfers, unemployment assistance and other job support. If you are weighing any severance offer, it helps to see [how another large employer structured its payouts](https://www.metaintro.com/blog/oracle-severance-package-laid-off-workers-2026) in a recent round.

## What Does California Law Say Santa Rosa Workers Are Owed?

This is where the primary rules matter more than any statement. Under the [California WARN Act](https://edd.ca.gov/en/jobs_and_training/Layoff_Services_WARN/), a plant closure is covered whatever the number of employees, at any site that has employed 75 or more full and part-time staff in the previous year. Written notice must reach workers [at least 60 days](https://edd.ca.gov/en/jobs_and_training/Layoff_Services_WARN/) before the closure takes effect.

The penalty for skipping notice is back pay. An employer that fails to give it is liable for [back pay and the value of benefits](https://www.dir.ca.gov/dlse/Cal-WARNAct.html) for up to 60 days or half the days you were employed, whichever is smaller, under Labor Code sections 1400 to 1408. The state's side by side guide adds that back pay is paid at the [final rate or 3-year average rate](https://edd.ca.gov/en/jobs_and_training/Layoff_Services_WARN/), whichever is higher, plus medical costs a benefit plan would have covered and a possible civil penalty of $500 a day.

Who counts is defined too. Workers who have been employed for at least [6 months in the 12 months](https://edd.ca.gov/en/jobs_and_training/FAQs_WARN/) before the notice is due are counted under California law, and notice must go to each city and county where the layoff happens.

> A plant closure in California is covered [whatever the headcount](https://edd.ca.gov/en/jobs_and_training/Layoff_Services_WARN/), and skipping notice costs back pay of up to 60 days.

## What Must the Written WARN Notice Tell You?

A lot, and it is worth reading line by line. The state requires the notice to list whether the [entire plant will be closed](https://edd.ca.gov/en/jobs_and_training/Layoff_Services_WARN/), the expected date of the first separation, the schedule for later ones, the job titles affected and the number of workers in each title.

The rules changed this year in workers' favour. From 2026, under [Senate Bill 617](https://edd.ca.gov/en/jobs_and_training/Layoff_Services_WARN/), a notice must say whether the employer will coordinate services with the local workforce board, give contact details and describe the help on offer. It must also describe CalFresh, the state's food benefit, and give its helpline.

The notice will be public once filed. The state's WARN report is published [every Tuesday and Thursday](https://edd.ca.gov/en/jobs_and_training/FAQs_WARN/), and the latest edition, covering notices processed from [07/01/26 to 09/16/2026](https://edd.ca.gov/siteassets/files/jobs_and_training/warn/warn_report1.xlsx), had no Amy's Kitchen entry yet. Watch the next editions for the filing, which will show the official headcount and dates for Santa Rosa.

## What Happened the Last Time Amy's Cut Santa Rosa Jobs?

There is a clear precedent in the state's own records. The [WARN report for 2024 to 2025](https://edd.ca.gov/siteassets/files/jobs_and_training/warn/warn-report-for-7-1-2024-to-06-30-2025.pdf) lists permanent layoffs of 283 workers at 2330 Northpoint Parkway and 22 at 3000 Dutton Avenue, with notices dated 10/02/2024 and an effective date of 12/03/2024.

The city then worked with [Sonoma County Job Link](https://joblinksonoma.org/) and the county on an October 2024 job fair that drew about 165 people, as the city recalled this week in the [latest plant closure coverage](https://www.pressdemocrat.com/2026/09/17/amys-kitchen-santa-rosa-sonoma-county-jobs-plant-closure/). It has promised similar help this time.

The Santa Rosa site has been shrinking for years. It employed about [630 people in 2022](https://hoodline.com/2026/09/amy-s-kitchen-shuts-santa-rosa-plant-shifts-260-jobs-to-idaho-and-oregon/), and back in 2024 plant operations were running at [65% capacity](https://www.pressdemocrat.com/2024/10/03/amys-kitchen-lays-off-311-staffers-as-part-of-reorganization-plan-2/) against an optimum of about 85 to 90%. Anyone who stayed through the last round was on a line that was already being thinned.

## Where Can Laid Off Workers in Sonoma County Get Help?

Start with the free local centre. [Sonoma County Job Link](https://joblinksonoma.org/) is the county's one stop career centre, and it runs resume workshops, job search classes and a Spanish language information session on training grants, and it reports serving 1533 adults and dislocated workers.

Rapid Response is the formal route. After a WARN notice is processed, the local workforce area contacts the employer to coordinate [Rapid Response services](https://edd.ca.gov/en/jobs_and_training/Layoff_Services_WARN/), which cover job search help, training and an explanation of unemployment insurance benefits. Ask your manager whether the company has agreed to that, since the new notice rules require it to say so.

The regional picture is tight. Sonoma State economist Robert Eyler said the closure suggests it is [getting more difficult to do food manufacturing at scale](https://www.pressdemocrat.com/2026/09/17/amys-kitchen-santa-rosa-sonoma-county-jobs-plant-closure/) in the county, where La Tortilla Factory cut 132 jobs in 2024 in a shift to Kansas. Local food plant jobs are thinning, which makes the search wider than one industry. Our guide to [running a job search after a layoff](https://www.metaintro.com/blog/job-search-with-ai-after-a-layoff) covers how to start while you are still being paid.

## What This Means for Job Seekers, and What Should You Do Next?

Our take is that this is as much a relocation of work as a layoff, and workers should treat it that way. The pizza, soup, burrito and entrée lines keep running. They simply run in Oregon and Idaho, and the Oregon plant was advertising canning and soup roles from [September 2](https://recruiting2.ultipro.com/AMY1001/JobBoard/ccd25ce1-01b6-4334-aadf-8fb195eb8eaf/?q=&o=postedDateDesc), two weeks before the plan was made public.

If you are in Santa Rosa and could move, ask for a transfer in writing now, before the WARN filing lands. The last round offered one, the Oregon pay is published, and an existing worker who already knows the recipes is a cheaper hire than a stranger off the street. The worst outcome is to take a separation package without ever asking.

If you cannot move, use the phase-out as paid search time. Read your WARN notice for your own separation date, sign up for Rapid Response through Job Link, and aim your search at the skills the postings reward, such as machine operation, food safety checkpoints and bilingual line work.

If you are in Pocatello canning, the picture is narrower. Your line is going to Oregon, and the Idaho plant is becoming the entrée hub, so ask whether entrée roles will open locally before you plan a move. The Idaho recruiter post suggests hiring there is coming, but it is not live yet.

And if you are a job seeker in southern Oregon with no link to Amy's at all, this is a good week to apply, because a plant absorbing work from two states needs trained people fast.

## Related Articles

- [US Factory Job Cuts in June Hit Levels Not Seen Since Covid](https://www.metaintro.com/blog/us-factory-job-cuts-june-2026-covid-levels-manufacturing)
- [US Manufacturing Has a Worker Problem, Key Warnings From McKinsey's New Report](https://www.metaintro.com/blog/us-manufacturing-worker-shortage-mckinsey-report)
- [What May's Factory Growth Means for US Manufacturing Jobs](https://www.metaintro.com/blog/what-mays-factory-growth-means-us-manufacturing-jobs)
- [Kraft Heinz Halts Plans to Split Into Two Companies](https://www.metaintro.com/blog/kraft-heinz-layoffs-1000-jobs-restructuring-2026)
- [California Builds an Early-Warning System for AI Job Losses](https://www.metaintro.com/blog/california-ai-job-loss-early-warning-system-2026)
- [SpaceX's Starbase Grows Into Company Town as Engineers Face Relocation Pressure](https://www.metaintro.com/blog/spacex-starbase-texas-engineers-relocation)
- [An Atlassian Engineer Won Her Job Back After Fighting Its Layoffs](https://www.metaintro.com/blog/atlassian-engineer-won-her-job-back-layoff-fight)
- [Amazon Layoffs Are Crushing Workers in an Already Saturated Job Market](https://www.metaintro.com/blog/amazon-layoffs-crushing-workers-saturated-job-market)
- [How Young Workers Are Making Moving Back Home Actually Work](https://www.metaintro.com/blog/how-young-workers-make-moving-back-home-work-2026)

## People Also Asked

### Q: How many jobs is Amy's Kitchen cutting?

A: About [260 jobs](https://www.pressdemocrat.com/2026/09/17/amys-kitchen-santa-rosa-sonoma-county-jobs-plant-closure/) in total, made up of about 207 at the Santa Rosa plant and about 51 in the Pocatello canning operation, with layoffs running from late this year to next summer.

### Q: Where is Amy's Kitchen moving its production?

A: Pocatello, Idaho becomes the [entrée facility](https://www.pressdemocrat.com/2026/09/17/amys-kitchen-santa-rosa-sonoma-county-jobs-plant-closure/) and Medford, Oregon specializes in pizza, soup and burritos, including the canning work leaving Pocatello.

### Q: How much notice must California workers get before a plant closes?

A: At least [60 days of written notice](https://edd.ca.gov/en/jobs_and_training/Layoff_Services_WARN/) under the California WARN Act, which covers a plant closure whatever the number of employees affected.

Get the inside scoop before the next announcement. [Metaintro](https://www.metaintro.com) tracks which employers are cutting and which are hiring across more than 50M jobs, so you can move toward the work instead of waiting for the notice. [Create a free profile](https://www.metaintro.com/signup) and see who is hiring for your skills.

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