North Carolina Layoffs — January 2021

Employers in North Carolina logged 5 WARN Act notices in January 2021, involving roughly 557 workers — falling below December and down 45% versus January 2020. The average filing covered 111 workers, with 3 closures among the notices.

Industry Breakdown

Industry	Notices	Workers
Education	2	440
Utilities	2	73

The Education sector dominated layoff filings with 440 workers across 2 notices. Meanwhile, Utilities reported 73 workers.

Geographic Hotspots

County	Notices	Workers
Pitt	2	440
Durham	1	44
Brunswick	1	44
Person	1	29

Pitt was the epicenter of layoff activity, accounting for 79% of all affected workers with 440 workers across 2 notices.

Layoff Type Analysis

Type	Notices	Workers
Layoff	2	440
Closure	3	117

Closures accounted for 21% of affected workers, while the majority of filings were layoffs rather than permanent shutdowns.

Largest Layoffs

Company	City	Workers	Type	Date
Aramark at East Carolina University		433	Layoff	2021-01-14
Ideal Industries Lighting LLC		44	Closure	2021-01-19
Capital Power Operations (USA), Inc		44	Closure	2021-01-28
Capital Power Operations (USA), Inc		29	Closure	2021-01-28
Aramark at East Carolina University		7	Layoff	2021-01-14

The biggest impact was at Aramark at East Carolina University at its North Carolina facility, reporting 433 affected workers. Ideal Industries Lighting LLC followed with 44 workers.

Trend & Outlook

This data points to a easing in workforce disruptions across North Carolina, with filings falling below both recent and year-ago levels. The Education 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.