Washington Layoffs — September 2014
Employers in Washington logged 8 WARN Act notices in September 2014, involving roughly 1,287 workers — climbing above August and up 99% versus September 2013. The average filing covered 161 workers, with 2 closures among the notices.
Industry Breakdown
| Industry | Notices | Workers |
|---|---|---|
| Information & Technology | 3 | 812 |
| Retail | 2 | 191 |
| Finance & Insurance | 1 | 148 |
| Manufacturing | 2 | 136 |
The Information & Technology sector dominated layoff filings with 812 workers across 3 notices. Meanwhile, Retail reported 191 workers.
Geographic Hotspots
| County | Notices | Workers |
|---|---|---|
| King | 7 | 1,214 |
| Skagit | 1 | 73 |
King absorbed the greatest share of layoffs, accounting for 94% of all affected workers with 1,214 workers across 7 notices.
| City | Notices | Workers |
|---|---|---|
| Redmond | 1 | 747 |
| Kirkland | 2 | 212 |
| Bellevue | 1 | 141 |
| Burlington | 1 | 73 |
| Seattle | 2 | 64 |
Layoff Type Analysis
| Type | Notices | Workers |
|---|---|---|
| Layoff | 6 | 1,073 |
| Closure | 2 | 214 |
Closures accounted for 17% of affected workers, while the majority of filings were layoffs rather than permanent shutdowns.
Largest Layoffs
| Company | City | Workers | Type | Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Microsoft | Redmond | 747 | Layoff | |
| Cobalt Mortgage | Kirkland | 148 | Layoff | |
| JCPenney | Bellevue | 141 | Closure | |
| Niagara Bottling | Burlington | 73 | Closure | |
| Macro Technologies | Kirkland | 64 | Layoff | |
| Novo Nordisk | Seattle | 63 | Layoff | |
| Staples | Auburn | 50 | Layoff | |
| Hightail | Seattle | 1 | Layoff |
The biggest impact was at Microsoft at its Redmond facility, reporting 747 affected workers. Cobalt Mortgage followed with 148 workers.
Trend & Outlook
After a dip last month, layoff activity has ticked back up.
This data points to 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.