Employers in Washington recorded 3 WARN Act notices in May 2008, covering approximately 198 workers — marking a sharp increase from April and up 65% versus May 2007. The average filing covered 66 workers, with 2 closures among the notices.
Industry classification was not available for filings in Washington this month. A total of 198 workers were affected across 3 notices.
| County | Notices | Workers |
|---|---|---|
| King | 3 | 198 |
King bore the heaviest burden, accounting for 100% of all affected workers with 198 workers across 3 notices.
| City | Notices | Workers |
|---|---|---|
| Kent | 1 | 112 |
| Bellevue | 2 | 86 |
| Type | Notices | Workers |
|---|---|---|
| Closure | 2 | 196 |
| Layoff | 1 | 2 |
The high proportion of closures (99% of affected workers) suggests structural shifts rather than temporary cutbacks in Washington's labor market.
| Company | City | Workers | Type | Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ball Corporation | Kent | 112 | Closure | 2008-05-19 |
| Washington Mutual | Bellevue | 84 | Closure | 2008-05-01 |
| Sun Microsystems, Inc | Bellevue | 2 | Layoff | 2008-05-22 |
Leading the list was Ball Corporation at its Kent facility, reporting 112 affected workers. Washington Mutual followed with 84 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.
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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