Wisconsin Layoffs — April 2016
Employers in Wisconsin filed 6 WARN Act notices in April 2016, impacting roughly 860 workers — representing a notable rise over March. The average filing covered 143 workers, with 2 closures among the notices.
Industry Breakdown
| Industry | Notices | Workers |
|---|---|---|
| Manufacturing | 2 | 600 |
| Information & Technology | 2 | 244 |
| Mining & Energy | 2 | 16 |
The Manufacturing sector led the way in workforce reductions with 600 workers across 2 notices. In a parallel development, Information & Technology reported 244 workers.
Geographic Hotspots
| County | Notices | Workers |
|---|---|---|
| Dane | 1 | 561 |
| Kenosha | 1 | 161 |
| Milwaukee | 1 | 83 |
| Pierce | 2 | 42 |
| Dunn | 1 | 13 |
Dane saw the most concentrated activity, accounting for 65% of all affected workers with 561 workers across 1 notices.
| City | Notices | Workers |
|---|---|---|
| Madison | 1 | 561 |
| Pleasant Prairie | 1 | 161 |
| Brown Deer | 1 | 83 |
| Maiden Rock | 1 | 39 |
| Menomonie | 1 | 13 |
Layoff Type Analysis
| Type | Notices | Workers |
|---|---|---|
| Closure | 2 | 244 |
Closures accounted for 28% of affected workers, while the majority of filings were layoffs rather than permanent shutdowns.
Largest Layoffs
| Company | City | Workers | Type | Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kraft Heinz Foods | Madison | 561 | ||
| United Solutions | Pleasant Prairie | 161 | Closure | |
| Kohl's Department Stores | Brown Deer | 83 | Closure | |
| Fairmont Santrol | Maiden Rock | 39 | ||
| Fairmont Santrol | Menomonie | 13 | ||
| Fairmont Santrol | Hagar City | 3 |
The single largest action involved Kraft Heinz Foods at its Madison facility, reporting 561 affected workers. United Solutions followed with 161 workers.
Trend & Outlook
This marks the third consecutive month of rising layoff activity.
The data underscores mounting pressure on the Wisconsin 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 Wisconsin. 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 Wisconsin WARN notices, browse layoffs by state, or download the full dataset.