Washington Layoffs — April 2008

Employers in Washington logged 3 WARN Act notices in April 2008, involving roughly 177 workers — falling below March and down 63% versus April 2007. The average filing covered 59 workers, with 2 closures among the notices.

Industry Breakdown

Industry	Notices	Workers
Agriculture	1	47
Education	1	19

The Agriculture sector dominated layoff filings with 47 workers across 1 notice. Meanwhile, Education reported 19 workers.

Geographic Hotspots

County	Notices	Workers
Spokane	1	47
Clark	1	19

Spokane saw the most concentrated activity, accounting for 27% of all affected workers with 47 workers across 1 notices.

City	Notices	Workers
Tacoma/Shelton	1	111
Cheney	1	47
Vancouver	1	19

Layoff Type Analysis

Type	Notices	Workers
Layoff	1	111
Closure	2	66

Closures accounted for 37% of affected workers, while the majority of filings were layoffs rather than permanent shutdowns.

Largest Layoffs

Company	City	Workers	Type	Date
Simpson Timber	Tacoma/Shelton	111	Layoff	2008-04-15
Wilcox Farms	Cheney	47	Closure	2008-04-03
Educational Opportunities for Children and Family	Vancouver	19	Closure	2008-04-25

The biggest impact was at Simpson Timber at its Tacoma/Shelton facility, reporting 111 affected workers. Wilcox Farms followed with 47 workers.

Trend & Outlook

This is the third consecutive month of declining layoff activity.

This data points to a easing in workforce disruptions across Washington, with filings falling below both recent and year-ago levels. The Agriculture 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.