Hostess Saves Twinkies By Automating, Fires 94% Of Their Workforce (washingtonpost.com)

An anonymous Slashdot reader writes: Where Twinkie once employed 22,000 workers in more than 40 bakeries, their workforce is now down to just 1,170, reports the Washington Post, relying mostly on robotic arms and other forms of automation. "This 500-person plant produces more than 1 million Twinkies a day, 400 million a year. That's 80% of Hostess' total output -- output that under the old regime required 14 plants and 9,000 employees."

"We like to think of ourselves as a billion-dollar startup," Hostess chief executive Bill Toler said Tuesday, announcing that Hostess Brands, which had twice filed for bankruptcy, now plans to become a publicly-listed company valued at $2.3 billion.

Comments

Re:The Taste must have been fired also

[Anonymous Coward]

As if the taste was any better before.

Re:Boycott All hostess produsts

[Anonymous Coward]

You do realise that the computer you're using is mostly made via automated processes, don't you? Are you going to boycott that as well?

If you're going to boycott everything that's made by a machine you're going to find yourself living in a cave and reverting to a hunter scavenger state.

Automation poses a lot of challenges for our society, but employing people just to give them something to do is not the answer. Personally I think we should reduce the standard working week by one hour per year until we reach a 20 hour standard week. That would allow society to adapt to the changes progressively over the period of a couple of decades while ensuring there are enough jobs for those who have been left unemployed due to automation.

Re:Union played hardball and lost

[Herkum01]

I don't get this attitude that Unions destroy everything, was management sitting on their hands. Looking into shenanigans of management.

• Leaving the original bankruptcy(in 2004) in greater debt than before
• Unable to fix operations after 8 years!
• Giving themselves raises before the bankruptcy(2011), While
• Offering to drastically cut pensions and benefits for unions

The raises management gave themselves right before the bankruptcy

Brian Driscoll, CEO, around $750,000 to $2,550,000
Gary Wandschneider, EVP, $500,000 to $900,000
John Stewart, EVP, $400,000 to $700,000
David Loeser, EVP, $375,000 to $656,256
Kent Magill, EVP, $375,000 to $656,256
Richard Seban, EVP, $375,000 to $656,256
John Akeson, SVP, $300,000 to $480,000
Steven Birgfeld, SVP, $240,000 to $360,000
Martha Ross, SVP, $240,000 to $360,000
Rob Kissick, SVP, $182,000 to $273,008

Nice bromide, but how about an actual answer?

[sethstorm]

So it's society's responsibility when it's a matter of deference to business friendliness, but it's the fault of individual when they can't second-guess the desires of employers?

Re:I Know Where The 22,000 Went!

[LWATCDR]

You left out the third option.
1,100 jobs where saved by automation. Hostess went out of business and several other companies bought up the rights to the products that Hostess made.