Wisconsin Layoffs — July 2017
Employers in Wisconsin posted 6 WARN Act notices in July 2017, affecting an estimated 658 workers — reflecting a significant uptick compared to June and up 129% versus July 2016. The average filing covered 110 workers, with 3 closures among the notices.
Industry Breakdown
| Industry | Notices | Workers |
|---|---|---|
| Retail | 3 | 467 |
| Manufacturing | 1 | 76 |
| Transportation | 1 | 66 |
| Professional Services | 1 | 49 |
The Retail sector saw the heaviest impact with 467 workers across 3 notices. On a related front, Manufacturing reported 76 workers.
Geographic Hotspots
| County | Notices | Workers |
|---|---|---|
| Brown | 1 | 371 |
| Milwaukee | 4 | 238 |
| Dane | 1 | 49 |
Brown was the epicenter of layoff activity, accounting for 56% of all affected workers with 371 workers across 1 notices.
| City | Notices | Workers |
|---|---|---|
| Deforest | 1 | 371 |
| Greendale | 2 | 96 |
| Oak Creek | 1 | 76 |
| Franklin | 1 | 66 |
| Madison | 1 | 49 |
Layoff Type Analysis
| Type | Notices | Workers |
|---|---|---|
| Closure | 3 | 496 |
The high proportion of closures (75% of affected workers) suggests structural shifts rather than temporary cutbacks in Wisconsin's labor market.
Largest Layoffs
| Company | City | Workers | Type | Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gander Mountain | Deforest | 371 | Closure | |
| Sears | Greendale | 88 | ||
| Black Bear Bottling Group | Oak Creek | 76 | Closure | |
| The Garvey Group | Franklin | 66 | ||
| The Carlson | Madison | 49 | Closure | |
| Sears | Greendale | 8 |
The largest notice was filed by Gander Mountain at its Deforest facility, reporting 371 affected workers. Sears followed with 88 workers.
Trend & Outlook
This marks the third consecutive month of rising layoff activity.
The trends suggest mounting pressure on the Wisconsin 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 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.