R.R. Donnelley in 2024: A Still-Standing Giant
It’s a question that’s all over Google: Is R.R. Donnelley going out of business? There’s a lot of confusion, partly because you keep seeing headlines about plant closures and layoffs in different towns. But if you zoom out, the company itself is definitely still operating.
R.R. Donnelley, known as RRD, is no small player in the printing, marketing, and supply chain business. The company is private now, owned by Chatham Asset Management. RRD keeps a significant presence across North America and beyond, with more than 35,000 employees as of 2025.
For the numbers people, RRD isn’t showing signs of falling over, at least financially. Recent figures show annual revenue around $5.4 billion, and the company netted over $160 million in profit for 2022. Not many firms in the old-school printing sector can say that these days.
There are other hints that RRD isn’t packing it in anytime soon. They’ve been busy buying up other businesses. In 2024, RRD picked up some digital and print marketing operations from Vericast Corp and also acquired Williams Lea. That’s the kind of thing companies do when they want to get stronger—not when they’re throwing in the towel.
So Why Do People Think R.R. Donnelley Is Closing?
When you look up R.R. Donnelley online, it’s easy to spot posts from people who have just lost jobs, or who know a local plant is shutting down. These stories are real. Plant closures have become routine across the printing industry, RRD included.
Take the Plainfield, Indiana facility. In early 2024, the company let everyone know the plant was shutting down for good, with 79 jobs cut. Over in Seymour, Indiana, another direct mail plant announced nearly 100 jobs were disappearing as the facility closed. Lewisburg saw the same thing, as have several other towns. Online forums, like TheLayoff.com, are filled with rumors, venting, and details from former and current employees seeing shutdowns happen in their communities.
These closures aren’t random. They’re caused by shifting economics in print and marketing. As more marketing moves online, less paper gets printed. Equipment ages. Some sites just become too expensive or slow to keep open. RRD consolidates, moving jobs and projects to bigger or newer plants. In each affected town, it absolutely feels like the company is shutting down. But when you pan out, it’s a question of fewer buildings, not corporate collapse.
Sometimes the confusion is made worse because a few different companies have worn “R.R. Donnelley” name tags at different times. Sites that close under related names—like LSC Communications, which used to be part of RRD before splitting off—can muddy the waters.
The Backstory: How RRD’s Structure Got So Complicated
Some of this confusion started in 2016, when R.R. Donnelley split itself into three parts. They were:
– The “new” R.R. Donnelley (still called RRD)
– LSC Communications, focused on retail and publishing print
– Donnelley Financial Solutions (DFIN), handling financial data and compliance communications
Each new company had its own leadership and priorities. Turns out, two of the new businesses have had a rougher time. LSC Communications went into bankruptcy in 2020 and was eventually sold to Atlas Holdings. Several of its old plants, like the two in Lancaster County, PA, have been closed, again with hundreds of job losses.
Meanwhile, the core R.R. Donnelley stuck with commercial print, labels, packaging, and marketing. In early 2022, the whole company was bought by Chatham Asset Management, a big investment firm. This didn’t mean shutting down. It was more like a handoff to new owners who saw long-term value.
All these changes have made it harder for folks—sometimes even insiders—to keep track of which Donnelley is doing what and where. When a factory with “Donnelley” on the gate closes, local news may not draw sharp lines between the different businesses.
Is the Whole Company At Risk of Disappearing?
If you’re wondering, “Will R.R. Donnelley disappear in the next year or two?” the short answer is, not very likely.
There isn’t any credible report out there that points to RRD planning a corporate bankruptcy, mass liquidation, or closure of all its operations. They keep highlighting their global reach for print, marketing, packaging, and supply chain on the company’s own website. Recent press releases talk about new service offerings and acquisitions, not exits.
But if you’re on the floor at a plant in Indiana or a warehouse in Kentucky, it may look very different. Plant after plant has closed or been consolidated. Some jobs move to bigger centers; others get cut. And that’s hard—no amount of “the company’s still healthy” talk softens the blow for workers who lose jobs.
So, for the big picture: RRD is still open for business, still making deals, still banking billions. For certain towns or facilities, though, RRD absolutely is going away—sometimes permanently, with no plans to bring those local jobs back.
What’s Really Going On: The Industry Shift and RRD’s Response
It’s not just RRD facing these tough choices. The print industry as a whole has trended downward for decades as digital alternatives replace catalogs, direct mail, magazines, and even some packaging. Throw in higher prices for paper and ink, fewer big print orders, and old plants becoming too expensive to update, and you get the pattern we’re seeing.
RRD’s strategy seems pretty clear from the outside: shrink the old-school print footprint, invest in digital and marketing automation, and, where possible, actually grow through buying companies that add new capabilities. They’re putting money into targeted multi-channel marketing services, not just traditional printing presses.
Does this strategy guarantee RRD an endless future? Of course not. But it does mean they’re not just sitting still waiting for the last order to roll off the line. If anything, they’re one of the survivors trying to adapt to new market realities, even if they have to make unpopular decisions about old facilities along the way.
If You’re Affected: How To Find Reliable Information
If you work at RRD, or your business depends on one of their plants, the most accurate info will always come directly from the company. When a location is set to close, RRD (like other big firms) is legally required to notify employees and often state agencies. For Plainfield and Seymour in Indiana, for example, notices went straight to the Indiana Department of Workforce Development. Local HR and managers generally hear news before the rumor mill gets spinning.
If you’re an investor, vendor, or someone looking at the future of RRD overall, you can find up-to-date news and statements on their official “About” page or via routine press releases. The company’s current owner, Chatham Asset Management, has also published details on the acquisition.
And if you want to see more analysis and data about big company moves, you can check out business news outlets or sites like Business Bits Mag, which track industry happenings, mergers, and restructuring.
If you’re unsure whether a plant in your area is staying or going, get in touch with management, human resources, or state workforce agencies. Transparency tends to be highest around official closures.
Bottom Line: Is R.R. Donnelley Going Out of Business?
To sum it up plainly: No, R.R. Donnelley as a whole is not going out of business in 2024. They’re still reporting billions in sales, turning a profit, hiring in some locations, and actively buying other businesses.
But it’s understandable why local stories fuel that rumor. RRD has closed—and will probably keep closing—various print and mail plants, some with decades of history behind them. Whole communities can feel the impact. In those places, it can look and feel like the company has vanished, even though the parent company is still out there doing business under the same name.
One last note: This pattern probably isn’t changing anytime soon. If you follow the company or industry, expect more consolidation, more investment in digital, and steady effort to balance old and new. Just keep in mind, the end of R.R. Donnelley isn’t on the horizon—just the end of certain locations and the reshaping of how it works.
So, if you see another headline saying “R.R. Donnelley is closing,” pause for a second. It’s probably true, but only for that one spot—not for the company as a whole.
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