Timeline of Major Employment Changes at R.J. Reynolds
Timeline of Major Employment Changes at R.J. Reynolds
In 1983, Reynolds had 15,500 full-time employees in the Winston-Salem area. Including part-timers it had more than 17,000.
Jan. 20, 1983 - R.J. Reynolds announces plans to ask more than 10 percent of its cigarette workers to quit or retire next month because it expects a federal tax increase to force down sales. In all, 1,800 workers will be eligible. All to be asked to leave are workers 55 years or older who will have 10 years with the company by March 1984, or who will be 65 by then. Retirees are offered normal retirement benefits and a year's salary.
(March 25, 1983 - Reynolds lays of 825 temporary production workers - but just for two weeks.)
Feb. 3, 1984 - R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co. has fired all 422 temporary workers in its manufacturing and shipping operations here. None of its 9,000 permanent, full-time hourly workers are affected.
June 3, 1987, R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co. Inc offers early retirement to 2,800 of its 16,200 employees as part of a plan to reduce operating costs and bolster the cigarete maker's competitiveness. On July 28, it announces that 2,317 workers had accepted its incentives to retire early, which will eventually reduce local employment at the company to about 11,650 workers.
March 21, 1989 - Reynolds offers voluntary-separation programs to 700 of its hourly production workers.
August 10, 1989 - Reynolds announces that it will dismiss 1,640 workers - 825 salaried workers, 700 hourly workers and 115 temporary workers to make the company more efficient and to fight its loss of market share.
May 10, 1991 - R.J. Reynolds has quietly been trimming its work force over the last two months. As many as 150 hourly employes were allowed to take voluntary dismissal; and at least 50 white-collar workers … have been cut since the beginning of the year, according to sources at the company.
September 14, 1993, Reynolds announced that nearly 1,000 jobs would be eliminated, largely because of a price war in the cigarette industry - but in late December 1993, the company raised its estimate to 1,200 jobs to be lost by the middle of 1994.
Oct. 13, 1995 - Winston-Salem will lose 660 jobs as part of a restructuring of the RJR Nabisco Holdings Corp. domestic and international cigarette business, the company announced.
Dec. 16, 1997 - RJ ReynoldsTobacco Co. says that it is cutting 390 jobs and closing its stemmery plant in Brook Cove in an $80 million restructuring.... The domestic cuts include190 full-time employees in the company's W-S operations and 200 seasonal employees at the Brook Cove plant.
Nov. 16, 1998: RJR says it will eliminate 315 jobs at it manufacturing operations in Winston-Salem.
Dec. 14, 1998 - RJ Reynolds says it will cut 1,000 jobs in its U.S. operations and scale back production at its Whitaker Park manufacturing complex.
Dec. 4, 2002 - RJ Reynolds Tobacco Holdings Inc. says it will cut its work force by 635 full-time jobs, or 8 percent. This will lower its work force in WS area from 6,100 to 5,500 to 5,600.
Sept. 17, 2003 - Reynolds Holdings says it will cut 2,600 employees, 40 percent of its work force, over the next year, as part of a major restructuring across most divisions. This will lower its Winston-Salem area base to 3,500-3,600. Once RJR Packaging is sold, it will shed another 1,000 jobs, leaving Winston-Salem area with 2,500-2,600.
Oct. 28, 2003 - R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Holdings Inc. said it is buying Brown & Williamson Tobacco Corp. for $2.6 billion in stock, later becoming $4.4 billion at the close of the deal on July 30, 2004. Reynolds expects net gain of 800 jobs from the deal, but Macon, Ga., will lose 2,100 Brown & Williamson jobs.
June 11, 2004 - Reynolds estimates that the company will gain 1,200 manufacturing and administrative jobs from its merger with Brown & Williamson
May 3, 2005 - Reynolds Tobacco sells its RJR Packaging LLC division to five packaging companies for a combined $48.2 million. About 650 of the 740 RJR Packaging employees are expected to take jobs with the new owners.
Dec. 15, 2006 - Reynolds Tobacco eliminates 80 local salaried management positions as part of restructuring.
Feb. 28, 2007 - Reynolds American said that Conwood Co. LLC will add up to 100 jobs, primarily in Winston-Salem
