SAVANNAH, Ga. () – International Paper employees at the mills closing in the Savannah area are sharing their reactions to the news that they’ll be losing their jobs at the end of next month.

One employee spoke with on the condition of anonymity about the rocky road ahead for the more than 1,000 people who work at the IP mills.

“About 7 a.m. there was an email sent out on IP net, which is the International Paper internal network, saying any mill employee who can make it to the 8:30 meeting can show up in the conference room in the HR building,” the employee said. “I wasn’t able to make it, but about 30 minutes after the email was sent, I saw the article that was posted…and before the meeting was even over, I knew that the mill was shutting down.”

The IP employee said he wasn’t the only one who found out about the closure from news media instead of his employer, International Paper.

“I highly doubt corporate decided within the last two weeks that they were going to close it down now,” the employee said. “I’m pretty sure they knew for at least a few months, and I think there’s a few things that could’ve been done to prepare the Savannah economy.”

Savannah and Chatham County government officials are now looking for ways to absorb hundreds of people in need of work.

“What we’re trying to do now if match their skills with jobs that will pay them on the same level that they are now,” Chairman of the Chatham County Board of Commissioners Chester Ellis said. “A person who is getting paid $35 an hour at International Paper, if he drops down to $22 an hour, that means there’s a gap in his mortgage, his rent, his food, his clothes for his family.”

Though, some employees said finding comparable positions may be a challenge.

“In Savannah, there are jobs that pay less than the training rate here at IP. The training rate alone is $25 an hour,” the IP employee spoke with said. “It was life-changing money. The opportunities you’re afforded, you can’t find in Savannah. There are jobs in Savannah where the jobs require a Masters or a bachelor’s to even be paid $30 an hour. There is no other job in Savannah that gives the opportunities international paper gave to employees…All of that opportunity just went up in flames.”

Mill employees said they’ve been told IP will provide severance but only for people who’ve been with the company longer than a year.