Washington Layoffs — January 2005
Employers in Washington submitted 6 WARN Act notices in January 2005, putting at risk an estimated 524 workers — up substantially from December and up 41% versus January 2004. The average filing covered 87 workers, with 1 closure among the notices.
Industry Breakdown
| Industry | Notices | Workers |
|---|---|---|
| Information & Technology | 3 | 310 |
| Healthcare | 1 | 125 |
| Government | 1 | 72 |
| Manufacturing | 1 | 17 |
The Information & Technology sector emerged as the hardest-hit sector with 310 workers across 3 notices. Separately, Healthcare reported 125 workers.
Geographic Hotspots
| County | Notices | Workers |
|---|---|---|
| Snohomish | 2 | 243 |
| King | 3 | 209 |
| Pierce | 1 | 72 |
Snohomish felt the sharpest impact, accounting for 46% of all affected workers with 243 workers across 2 notices.
| City | Notices | Workers |
|---|---|---|
| Bothell | 3 | 260 |
| Des Moines | 1 | 125 |
| Tacoma | 1 | 72 |
| Seattle | 1 | 67 |
Layoff Type Analysis
| Type | Notices | Workers |
|---|---|---|
| Layoff | 5 | 399 |
| Closure | 1 | 125 |
Closures accounted for 24% of affected workers, while the majority of filings were layoffs rather than permanent shutdowns.
Largest Layoffs
| Company | City | Workers | Type | Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cingular Wireless | Bothell | 155 | Layoff | |
| Masonic Retirement Center of WA | Des Moines | 125 | Closure | |
| Cingular Wireless | Bothell | 88 | Layoff | |
| Pacific Marine Maintenance | Tacoma | 72 | Layoff | |
| PhotoWorks.com | Seattle | 67 | Layoff | |
| Phillips Ultrasound | Bothell | 17 | Layoff |
Topping the list was Cingular Wireless at its Bothell facility, reporting 155 affected workers. Masonic Retirement Center of WA followed with 125 workers.
Trend & Outlook
This marks the third consecutive month of rising layoff activity.
These figures highlight mounting pressure on the Washington labor market, with activity running above both recent and year-ago benchmarks. The Information & Technology 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.