Washington Layoffs — April 2005
Employers in Washington posted 7 WARN Act notices in April 2005, affecting an estimated 954 workers — reflecting a significant uptick compared to 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 saw the heaviest impact with 426 workers across 1 notice. On a related front, 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 largest notice was filed by 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 trends suggest 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.