Employers in Wisconsin logged 93 WARN Act notices in March 2020, involving roughly 8,692 workers — climbing above February and up 222% versus March 2019. The average filing covered 93 workers, with 22 closures among the notices.
| Industry | Notices | Workers |
|---|---|---|
| Accommodation & Food | 42 | 3,334 |
| Manufacturing | 5 | 2,172 |
| Other | 14 | 1,996 |
| Arts & Entertainment | 3 | 344 |
| Information & Technology | 2 | 260 |
| Retail | 4 | 206 |
| Transportation | 3 | 198 |
| Education | 2 | 138 |
The Accommodation & Food sector dominated layoff filings with 3,334 workers across 42 notices. Meanwhile, Manufacturing reported 2,172 workers.
| County | Notices | Workers |
|---|---|---|
| Dane | 27 | 3,562 |
| Milwaukee | 15 | 1,491 |
| Washington | 1 | 700 |
| Rock | 4 | 544 |
| Portage | 2 | 467 |
Dane felt the sharpest impact, accounting for 41% of all affected workers with 3,562 workers across 27 notices.
| City | Notices | Workers |
|---|---|---|
| Fitchburg | 2 | 2,089 |
| Milwaukee | 12 | 1,381 |
| Madison | 22 | 1,314 |
| West Bend, Port Washington | 1 | 700 |
| Stevens Point | 2 | 467 |
| Type | Notices | Workers |
|---|---|---|
| Closure | 22 | 4,022 |
| Layoff | 1 | 56 |
Closures accounted for 46% of affected workers, while the majority of filings were layoffs rather than permanent shutdowns.
| Company | City | Workers | Type | Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sub-Zero Group, Inc. - Revision 1 | Fitchburg | 1,046 | 2020-03-20 | |
| Sub-Zero Group, Inc | Fitchburg | 1,043 | Closure | 2020-03-20 |
| Kettle Moraine YMCA | West Bend, Port Washington | 700 | Closure | 2020-03-25 |
| Stevens Point YMCA | Stevens Point | 324 | Closure | 2020-03-31 |
| SSA Group, LLC | Milwaukee | 319 | 2020-03-30 | |
| Lake Lawn Resort | Delevan | 305 | Closure | 2020-03-30 |
| Data Dimensions | Janesville | 260 | Closure | 2020-03-30 |
| Great Lakes Services | Baraboo | 247 | 2020-03-30 | |
| Hospitality Democracy LLC | Milwaukee | 234 | Closure | 2020-03-25 |
| FeraDyne Outdoors | Superior | 226 | Closure | 2020-03-31 |
| The Edgewater Management Company | Madison | 202 | 2020-03-25 | |
| Stateline Family YMCA | Beloit | 200 | 2020-03-30 | |
| Black Shoe Hospitality | Milwaukee | 155 | 2020-03-23 | |
| Holiday Inn Convention Center Stevens Point | Stevens Point | 143 | 2020-03-23 | |
| Take 5 Oil Change | Baraboo, Bellevue, Brookfield, Brown Deer, Cedarburg, Crivitz, De Pere, Fitchburg, Glendale, Green Bay, Hales Corner, Hartford, Kenosha, Merrill, Milwaukee, Mukwonago, New Berlin, New London, Oak Creek, Racine, Reedsburg, Sheboygan, Sun Prairie, Waukesha, Wauwatosa, West Allis, Wisconsin Rapids | 140 | 2020-03-25 |
The biggest impact was at Sub-Zero Group, Inc. - Revision 1 at its Fitchburg facility, reporting 1,046 affected workers. Sub-Zero Group, Inc followed with 1,043 workers.
After a dip last month, layoff activity has ticked back up.
This data points to mounting pressure on the Wisconsin 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 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.
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