Wisconsin Layoffs — August 2016

Employers in Wisconsin recorded 5 WARN Act notices in August 2016, covering approximately 906 workers — marking a sharp increase from July. The average filing covered 181 workers, with 3 closures among the notices.

Industry Breakdown

Industry	Notices	Workers
Manufacturing	2	680
Retail	1	37

The Manufacturing sector accounted for the largest share of job cuts with 680 workers across 2 notices. At the same time, Retail reported 37 workers.

Geographic Hotspots

County	Notices	Workers
Manitowoc	1	528
Price	2	304
Waukesha	2	74

Manitowoc felt the sharpest impact, accounting for 58% of all affected workers with 528 workers across 1 notices.

City	Notices	Workers
Manitowoc	1	528
Prentice	2	304
Waukesha	2	74

Layoff Type Analysis

Type	Notices	Workers
Closure	3	717

The high proportion of closures (79% of affected workers) suggests structural shifts rather than temporary cutbacks in Wisconsin's labor market.

Largest Layoffs

Company	City	Workers	Type	Date
Manitowoc Cranes	Manitowoc	528	Closure	2016-08-10
Caterpillar Inc	Prentice	152	Closure	2016-08-02
Caterpillar Inc	Prentice	152		2016-08-02
Sentry	Waukesha	37	Closure	2016-08-03
Sentry	Waukesha	37		2016-08-03

Leading the list was Manitowoc Cranes at its Manitowoc facility, reporting 528 affected workers. Caterpillar Inc followed with 152 workers.

Trend & Outlook

This marks the third consecutive month of rising layoff activity.

The filings reflect 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.