Employers in Washington reported 35 WARN Act notices in March 2020, displacing an estimated 4,213 workers — signaling an acceleration from February and up 743% versus March 2019. The average filing covered 120 workers, with 1 closure among the notices.
| Industry | Notices | Workers |
|---|---|---|
| Accommodation & Food | 5 | 868 |
| Manufacturing | 4 | 270 |
| Healthcare | 2 | 240 |
| Transportation | 1 | 197 |
| Information & Technology | 1 | 73 |
| Construction | 1 | 67 |
The Accommodation & Food sector topped the list of affected industries with 868 workers across 5 notices. Notably, Manufacturing reported 270 workers.
| County | Notices | Workers |
|---|---|---|
| King | 15 | 1,730 |
| Spokane | 4 | 793 |
| Snohomish | 3 | 151 |
| Chelan | 1 | 67 |
| Pierce | 1 | 15 |
King felt the sharpest impact, accounting for 41% of all affected workers with 1,730 workers across 15 notices.
| City | Notices | Workers |
|---|---|---|
| Seattle | 8 | 949 |
| Spokane | 3 | 696 |
| SeaTac | 1 | 354 |
| Seattle, Bellevue | 2 | 349 |
| Westport, Port Angeles, Seattle | 1 | 335 |
| Type | Notices | Workers |
|---|---|---|
| Layoff | 34 | 4,016 |
| Closure | 1 | 197 |
Closures accounted for 5% of affected workers, while the majority of filings were layoffs rather than permanent shutdowns.
| Company | City | Workers | Type | Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| YMCA of the Inland Northwest | Spokane | 509 | Layoff | 2020-03-26 |
| HMSHost | SeaTac | 354 | Layoff | 2020-03-24 |
| Westport, LLC | Westport, Port Angeles, Seattle | 335 | Layoff | 2020-03-23 |
| Schwartz Brothers Restaurants | Seattle, Bellevue | 297 | Layoff | 2020-03-18 |
| Edgewater Hotel | Seattle | 227 | Layoff | 2020-03-23 |
| Harbor Foodservice of Seattle LLC | Kent | 200 | Layoff | 2020-03-20 |
| Compass Airlines, LLC | Seattle | 197 | Closure | 2020-03-04 |
| Pineapple Hospitality Company | Seattle | 156 | Layoff | 2020-03-25 |
| Feast Restaurants, LLC | Wenatchee, Spokane, Sunnyside | 147 | Layoff | 2020-03-20 |
| National Products, Inc | Seattle | 137 | Layoff | 2020-03-27 |
| Contemporary Home Services, Inc | Auburn | 124 | Layoff | 2020-03-26 |
| Quarry Tile Company | Spokane | 116 | Layoff | 2020-03-25 |
| King & Prince Seafood | Redmond | 116 | Layoff | 2020-03-27 |
| Earl's Restaurants USA, Inc | Bellevue | 114 | Layoff | 2020-03-26 |
| Service Linen | Renton | 106 | Layoff | 2020-03-20 |
The most significant filing came from YMCA of the Inland Northwest at its Spokane facility, reporting 509 affected workers. HMSHost followed with 354 workers.
This marks the third consecutive month of rising layoff activity.
The numbers illustrate mounting pressure on the Washington labor market, with activity running above both recent and year-ago benchmarks. The Accommodation & Food sector warrants close attention heading into the next period.
This analysis is based on official WARN Act filings reported by Washington. 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 Washington WARN notices, browse layoffs by state, or download the full dataset.
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