Candy Giant Ditches Jersey — 307 Jobs Axed

Red stamp with the text 'NO JOB' — CANDY GIANT GONE, JOBS AXED

After 85 years of sweet loyalty to New Jersey, the maker of M&M’s is walking away and taking 307 paychecks with it.

Story Snapshot

Mars Wrigley will cut 307 Newark headquarters jobs starting October 16, 2026
The company is closing its U.S. headquarters in Newark and consolidating in Chicago by December 2027
Executives say Chicago expansion will add more than 600 jobs, even as New Jersey loses hundreds
Hackettstown’s candy manufacturing plant stays open, but Brick City loses its corporate hub

An 85-year relationship ends with a WARN notice

Mars Wrigley did not break up with Newark in a press conference. It did it with a legal filing. The candy giant submitted a Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification notice to New Jersey officials confirming that 307 employees at its Newark headquarters will be laid off, with separations starting October 16, 2026.

For a city that hosted the company’s U.S. base for generations, the news landed like a cold, official goodbye rather than a heartfelt farewell.

Candy giant Mars Wrigley signals massive layoffs as it relocates from NJ to Chicago https://t.co/PMt6Gfvyfx pic.twitter.com/8yu7KnG0bL

— New York Post (@nypost) July 20, 2026

The WARN notice spells out dates and numbers but gives almost no business reasoning beyond a “workforce reduction.” That gap matters. When a company this large pulls out, local families want to know more than sterile legal terms.

The filing confirms the hit to Newark’s workforce. It does not explain why a profitable global brand decides that 307 New Jersey jobs must vanish while another city gains instead.

Closing the Newark hub, betting on Chicago

The hard reality behind the headlines is this: Mars Wrigley is permanently closing its U.S. headquarters and Newark market hub and shifting corporate functions to an expanded campus in Chicago.

The company has already poured about $100 million into that Chicago site, turning it into the main home for its global and North American snacking operations. Chicago is not just another office; it is the new center of gravity for decisions that affect workers and communities nationwide.

The timeline is clear and unforgiving. Headquarters job cuts begin in mid-October, and the Newark corporate presence will keep shrinking until the offices are fully shuttered by December 2027.

For readers who value stability and local roots, this is the opposite story: a long-standing employer moving white-collar work out of town over several years, while local officials mostly watch from the sidelines. The slow phaseout softens the logistics but not the message.

Jobs lost, jobs promised, and the math that does not reassure

Mars Wrigley and its defenders point to one key number they hope will change the conversation: 600. Company representatives say the Chicago expansion will create more than 600 new jobs as the headquarters grows in the Windy City.

On paper, that looks like a net gain. In practice, for the 307 people in Newark whose jobs are tagged for elimination, those promised positions feel a thousand miles away, because they are.

The company frames the move as part of a broader strategy to position its snacking business for “long-term growth” and to “strengthen operations in key locations.”

That language echoes a larger corporate trend. Research on headquarters relocations shows that many companies now chase lower costs, better tax climates, and bigger talent pools by consolidating in a few major hubs.

From a business standpoint, that can make sense. From the view of a worker who built a life around a local job, the logic feels more like abandonment than optimization.

What New Jersey keeps, and what it clearly loses

The story is not a total pullout. Mars Wrigley says its manufacturing and innovation facility in Hackettstown will keep operating and is not part of the announced layoffs.

That plant remains one of the company’s major production sites, which means New Jersey will still be stamping out M&M’s and other classics. For workers on those factory lines, that is a relief and a reminder that not every corporate shift targets blue-collar roles first.

Mars Wrigley cuts 307 New Jersey jobs to move US headquarters to Chicago | Fox Business https://t.co/JyfKky14bL

— JT Badenov (@cbinflux) July 21, 2026

Still, Newark loses something Hackettstown cannot replace: a headquarters-level, white-collar corporate base. The Newark hub has handled sales, marketing, and other key office functions for Mars’s snacking division. Those are the types of jobs that anchor middle-class families in a city, fuel local restaurants, and create steady demand for housing.

Silence from Trenton and the bigger relocation wave

One of the most striking parts of this saga is who is not talking. So far, New Jersey’s governor and state labor leaders have offered no clear public account of whether tax policy, regulation, or lack of incentives played any role in Mars Wrigley’s decision.

That silence leaves residents guessing. Did the state fight to keep these jobs? Did it offer better terms? Or did leaders assume the company would stay no matter what and get caught flat-footed when it did not?

This is not an isolated case. Corporate research shows headquarters moves are rising again nationwide, driven by consolidation of operations and a search for friendlier business climates.

When an iconic candymaker leaves “Brick City” after nearly 90 years, it becomes one more data point in a larger pattern: employers will go where they believe the numbers, rules, and future all line up.

For communities that still believe loyalty runs both ways, the Mars Wrigley move is a harsh reminder that, in modern corporate America, the sweetest brands can still leave a bitter aftertaste.