Employers in Wisconsin posted 15 WARN Act notices in January 2021, affecting an estimated 1,240 workers — reflecting a significant uptick compared to December and up 90% versus January 2020. The average filing covered 83 workers, with 5 closures among the notices.
| Industry | Notices | Workers |
|---|---|---|
| Retail | 2 | 229 |
| Other | 3 | 211 |
| Admin & Support Services | 1 | 140 |
| Transportation | 1 | 140 |
| Education | 2 | 46 |
| Construction | 1 | 34 |
The Retail sector saw the heaviest impact with 229 workers across 2 notices. On a related front, Other reported 211 workers.
| County | Notices | Workers |
|---|---|---|
| Milwaukee | 10 | 988 |
| Washburn | 2 | 140 |
| Columbia | 2 | 78 |
| Jackson | 1 | 34 |
Milwaukee absorbed the greatest share of layoffs, accounting for 80% of all affected workers with 988 workers across 10 notices.
| City | Notices | Workers |
|---|---|---|
| Milwaukee | 10 | 988 |
| Spooner | 2 | 140 |
| Portage | 2 | 78 |
| Hixton | 1 | 34 |
| Type | Notices | Workers |
|---|---|---|
| Closure | 5 | 356 |
Closures accounted for 29% of affected workers, while the majority of filings were layoffs rather than permanent shutdowns.
| Company | City | Workers | Type | Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Conagra Brands, Inc | Milwaukee | 190 | Closure | 2021-01-25 |
| Conagra Brands | Milwaukee | 190 | 2021-01-25 | |
| Air Wisconsin Airlines | Milwaukee | 140 | 2021-01-28 | |
| Air Wisconsin Airlines | Milwaukee | 140 | 2021-01-28 | |
| Ryder Integrated Logistics | Milwaukee | 80 | 2021-01-21 | |
| Ryder | Milwaukee | 80 | 2021-01-21 | |
| Stresau Laboratory, Inc | Spooner | 70 | Closure | 2021-01-13 |
| Stresau Laboratory, Inc | Spooner | 70 | 2021-01-13 | |
| The Master Lock Company | Milwaukee | 61 | 2021-01-20 | |
| The Master Lock Company | Milwaukee | 61 | 2021-01-20 | |
| Stock and Field | Portage | 39 | Closure | 2021-01-29 |
| Stock and Field | Portage | 39 | 2021-01-29 | |
| Turnkey Processing Sollutions/WP Operations LLC | Hixton | 34 | Closure | 2021-01-05 |
| Durham School Services | Milwaukee | 23 | Closure | 2021-01-21 |
| Durham School Services | Milwaukee | 23 | 2021-01-21 |
The largest notice was filed by Conagra Brands, Inc at its Milwaukee facility, reporting 190 affected workers. Conagra Brands followed with 190 workers.
After a dip last month, layoff activity has ticked back up.
The trends suggest mounting pressure on the Wisconsin labor market, with activity running above both recent and year-ago benchmarks. The Retail 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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