PORT HUDSON - Paper company Georgia-Pacific says about half of its roughly 650 planned layoffs will take effect Tuesday at its Port Hudson facility.

A spokesperson for the Atlanta-based company said 260-270 employees will officially leave the site Tuesday, with 50-55 more salaried employees leaving Friday.

"We live out here together, we spend a lot of time at this place," said Kendall Gerald, the union president. "To see this happen is tough."

Gerald is one of the fortunate ones keeping his job. He’s hoping the company can bounce back from this.

"Do the expected projects that they're saying and hopefully we can maybe start hiring people back and we can increase productivity."

The second wave of layoffs is expected to hit on mid-April. Other employees are expected to leave between those dates based on when their work is complete.

Georgia-Pacific says it will continue to operate and invest in the Port Hudson mill to support its growing consumer tissue and towel business. The company will retain approximately 300 employees to manage those operations.