Washington Layoffs — July 2008
Employers in Washington posted 9 WARN Act notices in July 2008, affecting an estimated 1,478 workers and up 566% versus July 2007. The average filing covered 164 workers, with 0 closures among the notices.
Industry Breakdown
| Industry | Notices | Workers |
|---|---|---|
| Wholesale Trade | 2 | 1,043 |
| Information & Technology | 3 | 246 |
| Accommodation & Food | 1 | 87 |
| Finance & Insurance | 1 | 51 |
| Manufacturing | 1 | 29 |
| Transportation | 1 | 22 |
The Wholesale Trade sector saw the heaviest impact with 1,043 workers across 2 notices. On a related front, Information & Technology reported 246 workers.
Geographic Hotspots
| County | Notices | Workers |
|---|---|---|
| Clark | 1 | 933 |
| King | 5 | 222 |
| Snohomish | 1 | 184 |
| Yakima | 2 | 139 |
Clark felt the sharpest impact, accounting for 63% of all affected workers with 933 workers across 1 notices.
| City | Notices | Workers |
|---|---|---|
| Vancouver | 1 | 933 |
| Everett | 1 | 184 |
| Yakima | 1 | 110 |
| Seattle | 2 | 109 |
| Bellevue | 2 | 60 |
Layoff Type Analysis
| Type | Notices | Workers |
|---|---|---|
| Layoff | 9 | 1,478 |
Largest Layoffs
| Company | City | Workers | Type | Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Columbia Distributing | Vancouver | 933 | Layoff | |
| Intermec Technologies | Everett | 184 | Layoff | |
| Mt. Hood Beverage | Yakima | 110 | Layoff | |
| Starwood Resorts & Hotels | Seattle | 87 | Layoff | |
| Vivendi Games | Issaquah | 53 | Layoff | |
| Indymac Bank | Bellevue | 51 | Layoff | |
| All-Woods Components | Union Gap | 29 | Layoff | |
| American Airlines | Seattle | 22 | Layoff | |
| Sun Microsystems | Bellevue | 9 | Layoff |
The largest notice was filed by Columbia Distributing at its Vancouver facility, reporting 933 affected workers. Intermec Technologies followed with 184 workers.
Trend & Outlook
After a dip last month, layoff activity has ticked back up.
The trends suggest mounting pressure on the Washington labor market, with activity running above both recent and year-ago benchmarks. The Wholesale Trade 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.