Business

Georgia-Pacific Announces Layoffs, Says It Will Stop Printing Office Paper

January 14th, 2019

The Atlanta-based paper, chemicals, packaging company Georgia-Pacific announced it will “permanently shut down the communication papers machines, related converting assets, as well as the woodyard, pulp mill and a significant portion of the energy complex at its Port Hudson, Louisiana, facility.”

Courtesy of Georgia-Pacific

The Atlanta-based paper, chemicals, packaging company Georgia-Pacific announced it’s leaving the office paper business.

The company laid off more than 650 people at its mill in Hudson Port, Louisiana, and about 40 salespeople in Atlanta on Thursday.

Director Robert Izlar leads the Warnell School of Forestry and Natural Resources at the University of Georgia and is the former executive director of the Georgia Forestry Association.

“Younger generations, compared to my generation, and I’m a baby boomer, I print everything,” Izlar said. “Maybe they don’t do that. So there’s a decline in demand.”

Georgia-Pacific said the printing and writing business was not sustainable and that it will close down the paper operation by mid-March.

“People just aren’t using as much office paper anymore,” said Karen Cole, a spokesperson for Georgia-Pacific. “And so we also looked at the investment that’s required to sustain, you know, operations long-term and coupled with that declining market, we just felt it’s not viable.”

The company said it would retain 300 employees to focus on its tissue and towel business at its mill in Louisiana. The company’s parent organization is Koch Industries and has 7,200 employees in Georgia. About 2,500 employees are based in Atlanta.