Mississippi-based furniture company lays off 2,700 workers

TUPELO, Miss. (AP) — A Mississippi-based company that had become one of the largest furniture businesses in the country has laid off nearly its entire workforce.

United Furniture Industries sent a memo via email and text to workers late Monday night informing them not to report to their shifts Tuesday.

Approximately 2,700 workers lost their jobs. Most of the workers live in northeast Mississippi, but the company also laid off employees at its North Carolina and California plants.

The memo said the layoffs were made at the instruction of the company’s board of directors and were due to “unforeseen business circumstances.”