New Jersey Layoffs Near 13,000 as Dr. Praeger's and Kings Cut Jobs

New Jersey employers had announced well over 13,000 layoffs by early October 2026, up from more than 4,700 in the first three months of the year, and the opening days of October added three more names to the state's WARN-notice tally.

The largest of the new announcements comes from Dr. Praeger's Sensible Foods, which said on Oct. 2 that it will lay off 168 employees at its Elmwood Park manufacturing facility, effective Dec. 30. The company, founded in Bergen County by two cardiac surgeons in 1994, is permanently closing the plant and moving production to Kentucky. Vestar Capital Partners acquired a majority stake in January 2021.

"Today, we informed employees of our decision to permanently close our Elmwood Park, New Jersey manufacturing facility, and transition production to a new facility in Kentucky operated by a trusted manufacturing partner," a company spokesperson said in a statement. Employees remaining with the company will move to a new corporate office in the Elmwood Park area in early 2027.

For the 168 affected production workers, the closure removes one of the larger frozen-food manufacturing employers in Bergen County from the local hiring pool. The nearest comparable openings sit largely in distribution — and that segment is contracting too. HelloFresh announced in August that it is shuttering a Swedesboro distribution center, cutting 374 jobs by Nov. 17.

Kings closures carry a redeployment path

Acme Markets, which owns Kings Food Markets, plans to close stores in Hillsdale and the White House Station area of Readington no later than Jan. 2, 2027, with 122 layoffs listed in its NJ WARN notice. Fourteen Kings locations will remain in New Jersey after the closures.

Unlike the Dr. Praeger's cuts, the grocery layoffs come with an explicit internal transfer route. "Our goal is to place as many associates as possible in other stores," Acme spokesperson Dana Ward said. "Our Human Resources and Labor Relations Teams will be working diligently with each affected associate and his or her labor union to find other work, wherever possible, that is consistent with the applicable law or labor agreement."

For unionized grocery workers, that commitment materially improves the odds of continued employment — though 14 remaining stores may not absorb all 122 positions.

Novo Nordisk cuts again

Novo Nordisk announced 108 layoffs out of Plainsboro, effective by Dec. 31. The cuts come nearly a year after the drug maker laid off more than 800 employees at its U.S. headquarters in New Jersey as part of a cost-cutting restructuring that eliminated 9,000 jobs globally.

Pharma has driven much of the state's 2026 total. Bristol Myers Squibb has announced 718 New Jersey layoffs this year across three rounds, following 1,156 in 2025 and 1,262 in 2024 under a $2 billion cost-cutting program. Novartis has announced 572 U.S. layoffs tied to its East Hanover site this year, after 485 in 2025.

What the 2026 numbers show

The year's largest announcements span sectors: Samsung America leads with 918 layoffs as its headquarters moves from Bergen County to Texas, followed by Amazon with 871 tied to Amazon Fresh store closures (417 in Bergen, 240 in Passaic, 141 in Monmouth, 44 in Hudson, 29 statewide). Bristol Myers Squibb follows at 718, then FreshRealm's 637 layoffs connected to its Chapter 11 filing and Verizon with 594 across three rounds.

The 2026 pace is running ahead of 2025, when announced layoffs exceeded 11,000 by October, led by Verizon's 1,319, Bristol Myers Squibb's 1,156 and Rite Aid's 1,122.

With Dr. Praeger's production heading to Kentucky, Samsung to Texas, Mars Wrigley's Newark office consolidating into Chicago and Walmart's corporate roles relocating to Arkansas, a consistent pattern runs through the data: the largest cuts are not cyclical hiring pauses but permanent relocations of work out of New Jersey. Workers in manufacturing, pharmaceuticals and corporate back-office functions should expect the state's WARN filings to keep accumulating through the fourth quarter.