Employers in Hawaii submitted 14 WARN Act notices in October 2019, putting at risk an estimated 1,104 workers — up substantially from September. The average filing covered 79 workers, with 4 closures among the notices.
| Industry | Notices | Workers |
|---|---|---|
| Healthcare | 2 | 126 |
| Education | 2 | 8 |
The Healthcare sector emerged as the hardest-hit sector with 126 workers across 2 notices. Separately, Education reported 8 workers.
| County | Notices | Workers |
|---|---|---|
| Honolulu | 5 | 977 |
| Hawaii | 1 | 126 |
| Kauai | 1 | 1 |
Honolulu felt the sharpest impact, accounting for 88% of all affected workers with 977 workers across 5 notices.
| City | Notices | Workers |
|---|---|---|
| Honolulu | 4 | 940 |
| Hilo | 1 | 126 |
| Kailua | 1 | 37 |
| Lihue | 1 | 1 |
| Purchase dataset for city details | 7 | 0 |
| Type | Notices | Workers |
|---|---|---|
| Closure | 4 | 940 |
| Layoff | 2 | 38 |
The high proportion of closures (85% of affected workers) suggests structural shifts rather than temporary cutbacks in Hawaii's labor market.
| Company | City | Workers | Type | Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Papa Johns | Honolulu | 321 | Closure | 2019-10-22 |
| Blue River Mexican Grill | Honolulu | 321 | Closure | 2019-10-22 |
| BAE Systems | Honolulu | 290 | Closure | 2019-10-16 |
| Legacy Hilo Rehabilitation and Nursing Center | Hilo | 126 | 2019-10-31 | |
| Cerner Corporation | Kailua | 37 | Layoff | 2019-10-01 |
| Honolulu Academy of Art, Spalding House | Honolulu | 8 | Closure | 2019-10-17 |
| Pahio at Kauai Beach Villas Interval Owners Association dba Kauai Beach Villas | Lihue | 1 | Layoff | 2019-10-29 |
| Cerner | Purchase dataset for city details | N/A | 2019-10-01 | |
| BAE Systems | Purchase dataset for city details | N/A | 2019-10-16 | |
| Honolulu Academy of Art | Purchase dataset for city details | N/A | 2019-10-17 | |
| Blue River Mexican Grill | Purchase dataset for city details | N/A | 2019-10-22 | |
| Papa Johns | Purchase dataset for city details | N/A | 2019-10-22 | |
| Pahio at Kauai Beach Villas Interval Owners Association dba Kauai Beach Villas | Purchase dataset for city details | N/A | 2019-10-29 | |
| Legacy Hilo Rehabilitation and Nursing Center | Purchase dataset for city details | N/A | 2019-10-31 |
Topping the list was Papa Johns at its Honolulu facility, reporting 321 affected workers. Blue River Mexican Grill followed with 321 workers.
This marks the third consecutive month of rising layoff activity.
These figures highlight mounting pressure on the Hawaii labor market, with activity running above both recent and year-ago benchmarks. The Healthcare sector warrants close attention heading into the next period.
This analysis is based on official WARN Act filings reported by Hawaii. 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 Hawaii WARN notices, browse layoffs by state, or download the full dataset.
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