Dive Brief:
- Graphic Packaging International announced layoffs this week as part of a company restructuring, according to sources with knowledge of company operations and dozens of social media posts from former employees.
- According to the posts from departing employees, layoffs are immediate and occurring in various locations across the country, including in Georgia, Louisiana and Michigan. Roles include human resources and other corporate positions, including at company headquarters in Atlanta, as well as various operations positions in Louisiana and elsewhere.
- Graphic Packaging International said it declined to comment at this time.
Dive Insight:
Graphic Packaging International for months has foreshadowed a restructuring and reduction in force.
Former CEO Mike Doss referenced the company’s efforts to assess areas to cut costs during a November 2025 earnings call. Then, the same day in December that the company announced Robbert Rietbroek would become CEO in January, GPI separately laid out plans to lay off an undisclosed number of employees to cut $60 million in costs in 2026.
During his first earnings call as CEO in February, Rietbroek publicly announced GPI had launched a 90-day review of its organizational structure and business operations. Rietbroek previewed this in a Jan. 5 letter to employees, noting AlixPartners was providing outside assistance. They were examining GPI’s footprint and portfolio as part of a broader push to “restore margins.”
“We need to rightsize our cost structure for the realities of the current macroeconomic environment,” he said during the February call.
At that time he also mentioned ongoing unfavorable market conditions, including softer-than-expected demand. He also cited overcapacity in bleached paperboard markets and noted the “need to significantly reduce inventory.”
“We are not simply waiting for markets to recover. We are focused on what we can control and where our resources have the best opportunities to create lasting value,” he said.
Prior to the new restructuring, GPI had started rightsizing its North American footprint in response to new capacity in Waco, Texas. The newly built mill there began production in October. At that time, executives confirmed long-standing plans to end production at the recycled paperboard plant in East Angus, Quebec, affecting 120 employees.
Rietbroek also mentioned in February that costs ended up being higher than anticipated to complete some projects at GPI recycled paperboard manufacturing facilities. That is “driving the need to quickly capture the value these assets could generate,” he said.
In July 2025, then-CEO Doss disclosed that construction on the recycled paperboard mill in Waco, Texas, was incurring higher-than-expected costs, so executives bumped up capital expenditure projections for the year. GPI also disclosed the elevated capital spending at Waco in a securities filing this March.
That same filing contained a note from GPI’s independent auditor, PricewaterhouseCoopers, that said GPI did not “design and maintain effective controls for communicating and sharing certain information with the Board of Directors” related to certain capital expenditures. Specifically, PwC said unnamed former members of senior management did not get the needed board approvals for these expenses. The report didn’t name the projects, but analyst speculation has suggested Waco. The company has since taken measures to create and implement a stronger financial reporting plan, the auditor said.
GPI has undergone a variety of leadership shifts over the last year, including the May 2025 departure of the executive vice president and president of the Americas. Just weeks before announcing Doss was leaving, the company disclosed in November 2025 that longtime CFO Stephen Scherger was leaving to become CFO at Amcor; Chuck Lischer has been serving as interim CFO. And in January, the company disclosed the exit of its general counsel.
In December, days after GPI announced that Doss’ 10 years as CEO would come to an end, private investment firm Eminence Capital launched a “public campaign” against GPI’s board and called for Doss’ reinstatement. Eminence said in a statement that Doss was “a high-integrity executive held in high regard” and the board erred in “replacing him with an industry outsider.”
Rietbroek joined GPI from beverage company Primo Brands Corp., where he served as CEO from November 2024 to November 2025. Prior to Primo, Rietbroek held leadership positions at Quaker Foods North America, owned by PepsiCo, and at Kimberly-Clark.
This week, a variety of Graphic Packaging International employees took to social media to share they had been laid off, while others announced they resigned because they were told the company restructuring would require relocation.
The United Steelworkers union, which represents some GPI employees, did not respond to a request for comment by publication time. In addition, no states had posted by publication time any worker adjustment and retraining notifications related to GPI’s actions.
Graphic Packaging International’s next earnings call is May 5.
