Maryland Layoffs — December 2002

Employers in Maryland reported 5 WARN Act notices in December 2002, displacing an estimated 870 workers — signaling an acceleration from November and up 278% versus December 2001. The average filing covered 174 workers, with 1 closure among the notices.

Industry Breakdown

Industry	Notices	Workers
Other	5	870

The Other sector topped the list of affected industries with 870 workers across 5 notices.

Geographic Hotspots

County	Notices	Workers
Talbot	1	800
Montgomery	1	4

Talbot was the epicenter of layoff activity, accounting for 92% of all affected workers with 800 workers across 1 notices.

City	Notices	Workers
Easton	1	800
Largo	1	50
Linthicum	2	16
Bethesda	1	4

Layoff Type Analysis

Type	Notices	Workers
Closure	1	800
Layoff	4	70

The high proportion of closures (92% of affected workers) suggests structural shifts rather than temporary cutbacks in Maryland's labor market.

Largest Layoffs

Company	City	Workers	Type	Date
Black & Decker	Easton	800	Closure	2002-12-27
Verizon	Largo	50	Layoff	2002-12-27
U.S. Airways	Linthicum	15	Layoff	2002-12-02
Lockheed Martin Global Telecom	Bethesda	4	Layoff	2002-12-03
Getronics	Linthicum	1	Layoff	2002-12-13

The most significant filing came from Black & Decker at its Easton facility, reporting 800 affected workers. Verizon followed with 50 workers.

Trend & Outlook

After a dip last month, layoff activity has ticked back up.

The numbers illustrate mounting pressure on the Maryland labor market, with activity running above both recent and year-ago benchmarks. The Other sector warrants close attention heading into the next period.

This analysis is based on official WARN Act filings reported by Maryland. The Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification (WARN) Act requires employers with 100+ employees to provide 60-day advance notice of mass layoffs and plant closings. Data is updated daily by WARN Firehose. View all Maryland WARN notices, browse layoffs by state, or download the full dataset.