Pennsylvania Layoffs — May 2008
Employers in Pennsylvania reported 12 WARN Act notices in May 2008, displacing an estimated 1,416 workers — signaling an acceleration from April and up 36% versus May 2007. The average filing covered 118 workers, with 5 closures among the notices.
Industry Breakdown
| Industry | Notices | Workers |
|---|---|---|
| Finance & Insurance | 3 | 678 |
| Manufacturing | 4 | 379 |
| Healthcare | 2 | 143 |
| Information & Technology | 2 | 112 |
| Transportation | 1 | 104 |
The Finance & Insurance sector topped the list of affected industries with 678 workers across 3 notices. Notably, Manufacturing reported 379 workers.
Geographic Hotspots
| County | Notices | Workers |
|---|---|---|
| Lancaster | 2 | 277 |
| Montgomery | 1 | 266 |
| Westmoreland | 2 | 246 |
| Allegheny | 1 | 239 |
| Bucks | 2 | 145 |
Lancaster saw the most concentrated activity, accounting for 20% of all affected workers with 277 workers across 2 notices.
| City | Notices | Workers |
|---|---|---|
| Ft. Washington | 1 | 266 |
| Bethel Park | 1 | 239 |
| East Petersburg | 1 | 173 |
| Warrington | 2 | 145 |
| Philadelphia | 2 | 143 |
Layoff Type Analysis
| Type | Notices | Workers |
|---|---|---|
| Layoff | 7 | 840 |
| Closure | 5 | 576 |
Closures accounted for 41% of affected workers, while the majority of filings were layoffs rather than permanent shutdowns.
Largest Layoffs
| Company | City | Workers | Type | Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chase Home Lending | Ft. Washington | 266 | Layoff | |
| Washington Mutual | Bethel Park | 239 | Closure | |
| PNC Financial Services Group | East Petersburg | 173 | Layoff | |
| Meadwestvaco Consumer Packaging Group | Warrington | 140 | Closure | |
| Sony Chemical & Information Device | New Stanton | 135 | Layoff | |
| TRG Customer Solutions | Greensburg | 111 | Closure | |
| Roadlink Warehouse Solutions | Denver | 104 | Layoff | |
| Overhead Door | Lewistown | 99 | Layoff | |
| St. Agnes Continuing Care Center | Philadelphia | 81 | Closure | |
| Inglis at Home Services | Philadelphia | 62 | Layoff | |
| Meadwestvaco Consumer Packaging Group | Warrington | 5 | Closure | |
| Sun Microsystems | Lemoyne | 1 | Layoff |
The most significant filing came from Chase Home Lending at its Ft. Washington facility, reporting 266 affected workers. Washington Mutual followed with 239 workers.
Trend & Outlook
After a dip last month, layoff activity has ticked back up.
The numbers illustrate mounting pressure on the Pennsylvania labor market, with activity running above both recent and year-ago benchmarks. The Finance & Insurance sector warrants close attention heading into the next period.
This analysis is based on official WARN Act filings reported by Pennsylvania. 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 Pennsylvania WARN notices, browse layoffs by state, or download the full dataset.