Employers in North Carolina submitted 75 WARN Act notices in March 2020, putting at risk an estimated 7,357 workers — up substantially from February and up 635% versus March 2019. The average filing covered 98 workers, with 19 closures among the notices.
| Industry | Notices | Workers |
|---|---|---|
| Manufacturing | 4 | 495 |
| Accommodation & Food | 4 | 398 |
| Retail | 2 | 285 |
| Healthcare | 2 | 200 |
| Education | 1 | 198 |
| Transportation | 2 | 129 |
| Finance & Insurance | 1 | 95 |
| Information & Technology | 1 | 44 |
The Manufacturing sector emerged as the hardest-hit sector with 495 workers across 4 notices. Separately, Accommodation & Food reported 398 workers.
| County | Notices | Workers |
|---|---|---|
| Mecklenburg | 16 | 1,603 |
| Guilford | 10 | 1,338 |
| Iredell | 4 | 611 |
| Cabarrus | 1 | 597 |
| Wake | 7 | 537 |
Mecklenburg saw the most concentrated activity, accounting for 22% of all affected workers with 1,603 workers across 16 notices.
| Type | Notices | Workers |
|---|---|---|
| Layoff | 56 | 4,504 |
| Closure | 19 | 2,853 |
Closures accounted for 39% of affected workers, while the majority of filings were layoffs rather than permanent shutdowns.
| Company | City | Workers | Type | Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| HMSHost - Charlotte Douglas International Airport - COVID19 | 815 | Layoff | 2020-03-20 | |
| Quaintance-Weaver - COVID19 | 700 | Closure | 2020-03-19 | |
| GREAT LAKES SERVICES LLC dba Great Wolf Lodge - COVID19 | 597 | Closure | 2020-03-27 | |
| The Cheesecake Factory COVID19 | 376 | Layoff | 2020-03-26 | |
| Engineered Sintered Components Company COVID19 | 292 | Layoff | 2020-03-27 | |
| FieldCore Service Solutions LLC | 261 | Closure | 2020-03-31 | |
| Deluxe Corp | 221 | Layoff | 2020-03-09 | |
| Doosan Infracore International COVID19 | 221 | Closure | 2020-03-31 | |
| Kanki Japanese House of Steaks - COVID19 | 220 | Layoff | 2020-03-22 | |
| Imperial Hotel Group, Inc. d/b/a Sheraton Imperial Hotel-Con. - COVID19 | 207 | Layoff | 2020-03-20 | |
| Walmart Store 1127 | 205 | Closure | 2020-03-04 | |
| ARAMARK Educational Service of North Carolina, LLC | 198 | Layoff | 2020-03-25 | |
| Hilton Charlotte Center City - COVID19 | 163 | Closure | 2020-03-19 | |
| Greensboro Country Club COVID19 | 135 | Layoff | 2020-03-31 | |
| New World Concepts COVID19 | 120 | Layoff | 2020-03-19 |
Topping the list was HMSHost - Charlotte Douglas International Airport - COVID19 at its North Carolina facility, reporting 815 affected workers. Quaintance-Weaver - COVID19 followed with 700 workers.
After a dip last month, layoff activity has ticked back up.
These figures highlight mounting pressure on the North Carolina 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 North Carolina. 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 North Carolina WARN notices, browse layoffs by state, or download the full dataset.
Get weekly layoff reports in your inbox
Free weekly digest of WARN Act filings and analysis.
