Employers in Washington recorded 8 WARN Act notices in March 2004, covering approximately 2,440 workers — marking a sharp increase from February. The average filing covered 305 workers, with 7 closures among the notices.
| Industry | Notices | Workers |
|---|---|---|
| Finance & Insurance | 1 | 84 |
The Finance & Insurance sector accounted for the largest share of job cuts with 84 workers across 1 notice.
| County | Notices | Workers |
|---|---|---|
| King | 4 | 1,655 |
| Grant | 1 | 606 |
| Island | 1 | 84 |
| Clark | 1 | 46 |
King felt the sharpest impact, accounting for 68% of all affected workers with 1,655 workers across 4 notices.
| City | Notices | Workers |
|---|---|---|
| Seattle | 4 | 1,655 |
| Quincy | 1 | 606 |
| Oak Harbor | 1 | 84 |
| Tukwila | 1 | 49 |
| Vancouver | 1 | 46 |
| Type | Notices | Workers |
|---|---|---|
| Closure | 7 | 1,940 |
| Layoff | 1 | 500 |
The high proportion of closures (80% of affected workers) suggests structural shifts rather than temporary cutbacks in Washington's labor market.
| Company | City | Workers | Type | Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Airborne Express | Seattle | 1,000 | Closure | 2004-03-30 |
| J.R. Simplot Company | Quincy | 606 | Closure | 2004-03-19 |
| Todd Pacific Shipyards Corp | Seattle | 500 | Layoff | 2004-03-26 |
| Merrill Lynch Howard Johnson's | Seattle | 92 | Closure | 2004-03-08 |
| Wells Fargo Bank | Oak Harbor | 84 | Closure | 2004-03-26 |
| Peter Pan Seafoods | Seattle | 63 | Closure | 2004-03-25 |
| Fujicolor Processing, Inc | Tukwila | 49 | Closure | 2004-03-01 |
| Gl&V | Vancouver | 46 | Closure | 2004-03-09 |
Leading the list was Airborne Express at its Seattle facility, reporting 1,000 affected workers. J.R. Simplot Company followed with 606 workers.
After a dip last month, layoff activity has ticked back up.
The filings reflect mounting pressure on the Washington labor market, with activity running above both recent and year-ago benchmarks. The Finance & Insurance sector warrants close attention heading into the next period.
This analysis is based on official WARN Act filings reported by Washington. 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 Washington WARN notices, browse layoffs by state, or download the full dataset.
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