Employers in Virginia logged 30 WARN Act notices in May 2017, involving roughly 1,797 workers — climbing above April and up 145% versus May 2016. The average filing covered 60 workers, with 14 closures among the notices.
| Industry | Notices | Workers |
|---|---|---|
| Retail | 18 | 1,186 |
| Manufacturing | 2 | 164 |
| Information & Technology | 3 | 106 |
The Retail sector dominated layoff filings with 1,186 workers across 18 notices. Meanwhile, Manufacturing reported 164 workers.
| County | Notices | Workers |
|---|---|---|
| Chesterfield | 6 | 725 |
| Hanover | 2 | 274 |
| James City | 1 | 183 |
| Botetourt | 3 | 178 |
| Salem | 1 | 140 |
Chesterfield felt the sharpest impact, accounting for 40% of all affected workers with 725 workers across 6 notices.
| City | Notices | Workers |
|---|---|---|
| Richmond | 3 | 340 |
| Ashland | 2 | 274 |
| Williamsburg | 1 | 183 |
| Roanoke | 3 | 178 |
| N. Chesterfield | 1 | 168 |
| Type | Notices | Workers |
|---|---|---|
| Closure | 14 | 1,691 |
| Layoff | 2 | 106 |
The high proportion of closures (94% of affected workers) suggests structural shifts rather than temporary cutbacks in Virginia's labor market.
| Company | City | Workers | Type | Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Martin's Store #6402 | Williamsburg | 183 | Closure | 2017-05-16 |
| Martin's Store #6440 | N. Chesterfield | 168 | Closure | 2017-05-16 |
| White Birch Paper | Ashland | 164 | Closure | 2017-05-16 |
| Martin's Store #6588 | Midlothian | 164 | Closure | 2017-05-16 |
| LSC Communications | Salem | 140 | Closure | 2017-05-22 |
| Martin's Store #6428 | Richmond | 127 | Closure | 2017-05-16 |
| Martin's Store #5700 | Richmond | 121 | Closure | 2017-05-16 |
| Martin's Store #6490 | Chesterfield | 114 | Closure | 2017-05-16 |
| Martin's Store #6489 | Ashland | 110 | Closure | 2017-05-16 |
| Martin's Store #6491 | Chester | 107 | Closure | 2017-05-16 |
| Martin's Store #6406 | Richmond | 92 | Closure | 2017-05-16 |
| JCPenney | Roanoke | 72 | Closure | 2017-05-24 |
| Kmart | Herndon | 67 | Closure | 2017-05-04 |
| Kmart | Charlottesville | 62 | Closure | 2017-05-04 |
| BH Media Group Inc | Roanoke | 53 | Layoff | 2017-05-30 |
The biggest impact was at Martin's Store #6402 at its Williamsburg facility, reporting 183 affected workers. Martin's Store #6440 followed with 168 workers.
After a dip last month, layoff activity has ticked back up.
This data points to mounting pressure on the Virginia labor market, with activity running above both recent and year-ago benchmarks. The Retail sector warrants close attention heading into the next period.
This analysis is based on official WARN Act filings reported by Virginia. 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 Virginia WARN notices, browse layoffs by state, or download the full dataset.
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