TAMWORTH will have 30 less jobs when Goodman Fielder, the company behind brands such as Wonder White and Helga's, closes its Tamworth bakery at the end of June.
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The company will shift the site's production to its factories in Sydney and Canberra, breaking the news to its Tamworth employees this morning.
Production ground to a halt as workers came to terms with the news.
The Tamworth bakery, which has been operating since 1968, will close on June 28.
Goodman Fielder Australia managing director Julie Coates said today was the first time the company had told the workers the site would be closing.
She travelled to Tamworth to break the news and to hold one-on-one meetings with all the workers to take them through their options.
"We understand the impact this decision will have on our people and our immediate priority is to ensure that they are supported through this process," said Ms Coates.
Employees will be offered the opportunity to redeploy and fill vacant positions at any of Goodman Fielder's 12 remaining sites.
Those who are unable to be redeployed will receive full redundancy provisions as well as an employee assistance program outplacement program and career support.
Ms Coates said there would be no one working tomorrow as the one-on-one meetings continued.
She said the "difficult but necessary decision" was in line with the company's long-standing strategy to become more efficient, which includes reducing transport costs and consolidating factories wherever possible.
"We looked into a number of alternatives, however, none of these were viable," Ms Coates said.
"The bread that was baked in Tamworth will now be baked in Canberra and Sydney.
"Tamworth has been a fantastic site for us. Many of the people here are long serving employees and have done a great job.
"Now we are focusing on ensuring we support them in whatever way we can moving forward."