Washington Layoffs — February 2014
Employers in Washington filed 7 WARN Act notices in February 2014, impacting roughly 345 workers — representing a notable rise over January and up 238% versus February 2013. The average filing covered 49 workers, with 3 closures among the notices.
Industry Breakdown
| Industry | Notices | Workers |
|---|---|---|
| Manufacturing | 3 | 140 |
| Retail | 3 | 114 |
| Information & Technology | 1 | 91 |
The Manufacturing sector led the way in workforce reductions with 140 workers across 3 notices. In a parallel development, Retail reported 114 workers.
Geographic Hotspots
| County | Notices | Workers |
|---|---|---|
| King | 7 | 345 |
King felt the sharpest impact, accounting for 100% of all affected workers with 345 workers across 7 notices.
| City | Notices | Workers |
|---|---|---|
| Seattle | 6 | 254 |
| Bellevue | 1 | 91 |
Layoff Type Analysis
| Type | Notices | Workers |
|---|---|---|
| Layoff | 4 | 245 |
| Closure | 3 | 100 |
Closures accounted for 29% of affected workers, while the majority of filings were layoffs rather than permanent shutdowns.
Largest Layoffs
| Company | City | Workers | Type | Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sprint | Bellevue | 91 | Layoff | |
| Boeing | Seattle | 79 | Layoff | |
| Sears | Seattle | 66 | Layoff | |
| PepsiCo | Seattle | 52 | Closure | |
| N-Store Merchandising | Seattle | 35 | Closure | |
| Sears | Seattle | 13 | Closure | |
| Boeing | Seattle | 9 | Layoff |
The single largest action involved Sprint at its Bellevue facility, reporting 91 affected workers. Boeing followed with 79 workers.
Trend & Outlook
This marks the third consecutive month of rising layoff activity.
The data underscores 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.