Employers in Washington recorded 10 WARN Act notices in January 2009, covering approximately 2,040 workers — marking a sharp increase from December and up 560% versus January 2008. The average filing covered 204 workers, with 5 closures among the notices.
| Industry | Notices | Workers |
|---|---|---|
| Manufacturing | 1 | 96 |
The Manufacturing sector accounted for the largest share of job cuts with 96 workers across 1 notice.
| County | Notices | Workers |
|---|---|---|
| King | 6 | 1,591 |
| Grays Harbor | 2 | 221 |
| Pend Oreille | 1 | 165 |
| Clark | 1 | 63 |
King absorbed the greatest share of layoffs, 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 |
| 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.
| Company | City | Workers | Type | Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Microsoft | Redmond | 872 | Layoff | 2009-01-23 |
| Qwest | Seattle | 235 | Closure | 2009-01-21 |
| Allied Waste | Seattle | 203 | Layoff | 2009-01-28 |
| Seattle Post-Intelligencer | Seattle | 181 | Closure | 2009-01-21 |
| Teck | Metaline Falls | 165 | Layoff | 2009-01-06 |
| Weyerhaeuser Sawmill | Aberdeen | 128 | Closure | 2009-01-27 |
| Philips Electronics | Auburn | 96 | Closure | 2009-01-20 |
| Pacific Veneer Weyerhaeuser | Aberdeen | 93 | Closure | 2009-01-27 |
| SolarWorld Industries | Vancouver | 63 | Layoff | 2009-01-30 |
| Sun Microsystems, Inc | Bellevue | 4 | Layoff | 2009-01-23 |
Leading the list was Microsoft at its Redmond facility, reporting 872 affected workers. Qwest followed with 235 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. The Manufacturing 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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