Tyson taps new CEO and plans to hire nearly 200 nurses, after at least 10,261 Tyson workers catch COVID-19 —

Tyson taps new CEO and plans to hire nearly 200 nurses, after at least 10,261 Tyson workers catch COVID-19 —

ktaylor@businessinsider.com (Kate Taylor)

Yahoo! News

Tyson Foods

  • Tyson Foods announced on Monday tech industry veteran Dean Banks will become the company’s new CEO in October. He will be tasked with leading the meat industry giant out of the chaos caused by the pandemic. 
  • “Without a doubt, our third quarter was one of the most volatile and uncertain periods I’ve seen during my 40-year career in the industry,” CEO Noel White said in a call with investors.
  • There have been at least 10,261 reported COVID-19 cases among Tyson meat processing workers, and at least 24 have died. 
  • “Currently less than 1% of Tyson Foods’ U.S. workforce of over 120,000 team members has active COVID-19,” White said. 
  • Visit Business Insider’s homepage for more stories.

Tyson Foods tapped a new CEO, after the coronavirus pandemic sparked one of the most “volatile and uncertain” periods the company has ever seen. 

On Monday, Tyson announced that Dean Banks would become the company’s chief executive in October. Banks, a tech industry veteran, will be tasked with leading Tyson out of one of the most chaotic times in the meat giant’s history.

On Monday, Tyson reported $527 million profit in the most recent quarter, beating expectations. Tyson said it expects the pandemic to continue to negatively impact the volume of meat production and raise operating costs into 2021.  

The company spent $340 million in COVID-related costs in the most recent quarter, $114 million of which went towards “thank you” bonuses for workers. Other costs included COVID-19 testing and personal protective gear for workers.  

“Without a doubt, our third quarter was one of the most volatile and uncertain periods I’ve seen during my 40-year career in the industry,” CEO Noel White said in a call with investors on Monday. 

As the pandemic swept the US, meat processing companies struggled to keep plants open as many workers caught the coronavirus and some stayed home from work to avoid becoming ill. According to White, roughly a third of Tyson’s US workforce — 40,000 people — have been tested for the virus. Read more from Yahoo! News.

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