Washington Layoffs — April 2005
Employers in Washington filed 7 WARN Act notices in April 2005, impacting roughly 954 workers — representing a notable rise over March and up 52% versus April 2004. The average filing covered 136 workers, with 4 closures among the notices.
Industry Breakdown
| Industry | Notices | Workers |
|---|---|---|
| Transportation | 1 | 426 |
| Construction | 1 | 350 |
| Manufacturing | 2 | 125 |
| Information & Technology | 3 | 53 |
The Transportation sector led the way in workforce reductions with 426 workers across 1 notice. In a parallel development, Construction reported 350 workers.
Geographic Hotspots
| County | Notices | Workers |
|---|---|---|
| King | 4 | 506 |
| Benton | 1 | 350 |
| Skagit | 1 | 72 |
| Snohomish | 1 | 26 |
King bore the heaviest burden, accounting for 53% of all affected workers with 506 workers across 4 notices.
| City | Notices | Workers |
|---|---|---|
| Kent | 1 | 426 |
| Richland | 1 | 350 |
| Bothell | 2 | 79 |
| Burlington | 1 | 72 |
| Seattle | 1 | 23 |
Layoff Type Analysis
| Type | Notices | Workers |
|---|---|---|
| Closure | 4 | 574 |
| Layoff | 3 | 380 |
The high proportion of closures (60% of affected workers) suggests structural shifts rather than temporary cutbacks in Washington's labor market.
Largest Layoffs
| Company | City | Workers | Type | Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| United Airlines | Kent | 426 | Closure | |
| Bechtel National | Richland | 350 | Layoff | |
| Lennox Hearth Products | Burlington | 72 | Closure | |
| Sanmina-SCI | Bothell | 53 | Closure | |
| Cingular Wireless | Bothell | 26 | Layoff | |
| Qwest | Seattle | 23 | Closure | |
| Cingular Wireless | Redmond | 4 | Layoff |
The single largest action involved United Airlines at its Kent facility, reporting 426 affected workers. Bechtel National followed with 350 workers.
Trend & Outlook
This marks the third consecutive month of rising layoff activity.
The data underscores mounting pressure on the Washington labor market, with activity running above both recent and year-ago benchmarks. The Transportation 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.