Employers in North Carolina posted 14 WARN Act notices in January 2026, affecting an estimated 1,699 workers — reflecting a significant uptick compared to December and up 55% versus January 2025. The average filing covered 121 workers, with 5 closures among the notices.
| Industry | Notices | Workers |
|---|---|---|
| Transportation | 3 | 259 |
| Manufacturing | 2 | 81 |
| Finance & Insurance | 1 | 9 |
The Transportation sector saw the heaviest impact with 259 workers across 3 notices. On a related front, Manufacturing reported 81 workers.
| County | Notices | Workers |
|---|---|---|
| Buncombe | 2 | 844 |
| Chatham | 2 | 300 |
| Stokes | 2 | 144 |
| Forsyth | 1 | 99 |
| New Hanover | 1 | 82 |
Buncombe was the epicenter of layoff activity, accounting for 50% of all affected workers with 844 workers across 2 notices.
| City | Notices | Workers |
|---|---|---|
| Asheville | 2 | 844 |
| Siler City | 2 | 300 |
| Walnut Cove | 2 | 144 |
| Rural Hall | 1 | 99 |
| Wilmington | 1 | 82 |
| Type | Notices | Workers |
|---|---|---|
| Layoff | 9 | 947 |
| Closure | 5 | 752 |
Closures accounted for 44% of affected workers, while the majority of filings were layoffs rather than permanent shutdowns.
| Company | City | Workers | Type | Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Thermo Fisher Scientific | Asheville | 423 | Layoff | 2026-01-08 |
| Thermo Fisher Scientific | Asheville | 421 | Closure | 2026-01-08 |
| Fortrex | Siler City | 170 | Layoff | 2026-01-12 |
| Fortrex | Siler City | 130 | Layoff | 2026-01-12 |
| CJ Logistics America, LLC | Rural Hall | 99 | Closure | 2026-01-20 |
| Avelo Airlines, Inc | Wilmington | 82 | Closure | 2026-01-07 |
| Avelo Airlines, Inc | Morrisville | 78 | Closure | 2026-01-07 |
| Firestone Fibers and Textiles, LLC | Kings Mountain | 77 | Layoff | 2026-01-27 |
| Parkdale Mills | Walnut Cove | 72 | Layoff | 2026-01-13 |
| Parkdale Mills | Walnut Cove | 72 | Closure | 2026-01-15 |
| Access East | Greenville | 31 | Layoff | 2026-01-19 |
| Access East | Greenville | 31 | Layoff | 2026-01-20 |
| Smbc Manubank | New York | 9 | Layoff | 2026-01-08 |
| Firestone Fibers and Textiles, LLC | Gastonia | 4 | Layoff | 2026-01-27 |
The largest notice was filed by Thermo Fisher Scientific at its Asheville facility, reporting 423 affected workers. Thermo Fisher Scientific followed with 421 workers.
This marks the third consecutive month of rising layoff activity.
The trends suggest mounting pressure on the North Carolina labor market, with activity running above both recent and year-ago benchmarks. The Transportation 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.
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