Washington Layoffs — November 2017
Employers in Washington posted 7 WARN Act notices in November 2017, affecting an estimated 478 workers — reflecting a significant uptick compared to October and up 41% versus November 2016. The average filing covered 68 workers, with 2 closures among the notices.
Industry Breakdown
| Industry | Notices | Workers |
|---|---|---|
| Information & Technology | 2 | 342 |
| Education | 2 | 74 |
| Manufacturing | 2 | 45 |
| Professional Services | 1 | 17 |
The Information & Technology sector saw the heaviest impact with 342 workers across 2 notices. On a related front, Education reported 74 workers.
Geographic Hotspots
| County | Notices | Workers |
|---|---|---|
| King | 4 | 361 |
| Pierce | 2 | 88 |
| Snohomish | 1 | 29 |
King felt the sharpest impact, accounting for 76% of all affected workers with 361 workers across 4 notices.
| City | Notices | Workers |
|---|---|---|
| SeaTac | 2 | 342 |
| Tacoma | 1 | 45 |
| Lakewood | 1 | 43 |
| Everett | 1 | 29 |
| Seattle | 2 | 19 |
Layoff Type Analysis
| Type | Notices | Workers |
|---|---|---|
| Closure | 2 | 214 |
| Layoff | 4 | 93 |
Closures accounted for 45% of affected workers, while the majority of filings were layoffs rather than permanent shutdowns.
Largest Layoffs
| Company | City | Workers | Type | Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ABM Aviation | SeaTac | 171 | Closure | |
| ABM Industries | SeaTac | 171 | ||
| Zenith Education Group | Tacoma | 45 | Layoff | |
| Northrop Grumman | Lakewood | 43 | Closure | |
| Zenith Education Group | Everett | 29 | Layoff | |
| The Hacker Group | Seattle | 17 | Layoff | |
| Boeing | Seattle | 2 | Layoff |
The largest notice was filed by ABM Aviation at its SeaTac facility, reporting 171 affected workers. ABM Industries followed with 171 workers.
Trend & Outlook
This marks the third consecutive month of rising layoff activity.
The trends suggest 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.