Washington Layoffs — January 2009
Employers in Washington logged 10 WARN Act notices in January 2009, involving roughly 2,040 workers — climbing above December and up 560% versus January 2008. The average filing covered 204 workers, with 5 closures among the notices.
Industry Breakdown
| Industry | Notices | Workers |
|---|---|---|
| Information & Technology | 4 | 1,260 |
| Manufacturing | 4 | 380 |
| Utilities | 1 | 235 |
| Mining & Energy | 1 | 165 |
The Information & Technology sector dominated layoff filings with 1,260 workers across 4 notices. Meanwhile, Manufacturing reported 380 workers.
Geographic Hotspots
| County | Notices | Workers |
|---|---|---|
| King | 6 | 1,591 |
| Grays Harbor | 2 | 221 |
| Pend Oreille | 1 | 165 |
| Clark | 1 | 63 |
King was the epicenter of layoff activity, accounting for 78% of all affected workers with 1,591 workers across 6 notices.
| City | Notices | Workers |
|---|---|---|
| Redmond | 1 | 872 |
| Seattle | 3 | 619 |
| Aberdeen | 2 | 221 |
| Metaline Falls | 1 | 165 |
| Auburn | 1 | 96 |
Layoff Type Analysis
| Type | Notices | Workers |
|---|---|---|
| Layoff | 5 | 1,307 |
| Closure | 5 | 733 |
Closures accounted for 36% of affected workers, while the majority of filings were layoffs rather than permanent shutdowns.
Largest Layoffs
| Company | City | Workers | Type | Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Microsoft | Redmond | 872 | Layoff | |
| Qwest | Seattle | 235 | Closure | |
| Allied Waste | Seattle | 203 | Layoff | |
| Seattle Post-Intelligencer | Seattle | 181 | Closure | |
| Teck | Metaline Falls | 165 | Layoff | |
| Weyerhaeuser Sawmill | Aberdeen | 128 | Closure | |
| Philips Electronics | Auburn | 96 | Closure | |
| Pacific Veneer Weyerhaeuser | Aberdeen | 93 | Closure | |
| SolarWorld Industries | Vancouver | 63 | Layoff | |
| Sun Microsystems | Bellevue | 4 | Layoff |
The biggest impact was at Microsoft at its Redmond facility, reporting 872 affected workers. Qwest followed with 235 workers.
Trend & Outlook
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.