Employers in Washington logged 8 WARN Act notices in October 2005, involving roughly 939 workers — climbing above September and up 526% versus October 2004. The average filing covered 117 workers, with 5 closures among the notices.
| Industry | Notices | Workers |
|---|---|---|
| Information & Technology | 3 | 171 |
The Information & Technology sector dominated layoff filings with 171 workers across 3 notices.
| County | Notices | Workers |
|---|---|---|
| Grays Harbor | 2 | 342 |
| Pierce | 2 | 307 |
| Snohomish | 1 | 138 |
| King | 1 | 103 |
Grays Harbor bore the heaviest burden, accounting for 36% of all affected workers with 342 workers across 2 notices.
| City | Notices | Workers |
|---|---|---|
| Cosmopolis | 1 | 245 |
| Lakewood | 1 | 185 |
| Arlington | 1 | 138 |
| Tacoma | 1 | 122 |
| Seattle | 1 | 103 |
| Type | Notices | Workers |
|---|---|---|
| Closure | 5 | 768 |
| Layoff | 3 | 171 |
The high proportion of closures (82% of affected workers) suggests structural shifts rather than temporary cutbacks in Washington's labor market.
| Company | City | Workers | Type | Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Weyerhaeuser Company | Cosmopolis | 245 | Closure | 2005-10-24 |
| Interstate Brands Corp | Lakewood | 185 | Closure | 2005-10-19 |
| GB Enterprises | Arlington | 138 | Closure | 2005-10-04 |
| Electronic Data Systems | Tacoma | 122 | Layoff | 2005-10-07 |
| First Hill Care Center | Seattle | 103 | Closure | 2005-10-26 |
| Weyerhaeuser Company | Aberdeen | 97 | Closure | 2005-10-24 |
| Cingular Wireless | Bothell, Redmond | 25 | Layoff | 2005-10-21 |
| Cingular Wireless | Bothell, Redmond | 24 | Layoff | 2005-10-11 |
The biggest impact was at Weyerhaeuser Company at its Cosmopolis facility, reporting 245 affected workers. Interstate Brands Corp followed with 185 workers.
After a dip last month, layoff activity has ticked back up.
This data points to mounting pressure on the Washington labor market, with activity running above both recent and year-ago benchmarks. The Information & Technology 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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