Alaska Layoffs — January 2018
Employers in Alaska logged 5 WARN Act notices in January 2018, involving roughly 853 workers. The average filing covered 171 workers, with 4 closures among the notices.
Industry Breakdown
| Industry | Notices | Workers |
|---|---|---|
| Retail | 1 | 67 |
The Retail sector dominated layoff filings with 67 workers across 1 notice.
Geographic Hotspots
| County | Notices | Workers |
|---|---|---|
| Anchorage | 2 | 328 |
| Fairbanks North Star | 1 | 177 |
Anchorage bore the heaviest burden, accounting for 38% of all affected workers with 328 workers across 2 notices.
| City | Notices | Workers |
|---|---|---|
| Prudhoe Bay | 1 | 261 |
| Fairbanks | 1 | 177 |
| Anchorage | 1 | 67 |
Layoff Type Analysis
| Type | Notices | Workers |
|---|---|---|
| Closure | 4 | 592 |
The high proportion of closures (69% of affected workers) suggests structural shifts rather than temporary cutbacks in Alaska's labor market.
Largest Layoffs
| Company | City | Workers | Type | Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mistras Group, Inc. and subsidiary Quality Services Laboratories | Prudhoe Bay | 261 | ||
| Sam’s Club | 181 | Closure | ||
| Sam’s Club | Fairbanks | 177 | Closure | |
| Sam’s Club | 167 | Closure | ||
| Sears Holdings | Anchorage | 67 | Closure |
The biggest impact was at Mistras Group, Inc. and subsidiary Quality Services Laboratories at its Prudhoe Bay facility, reporting 261 affected workers. Sam’s Club followed with 181 workers.
Trend & Outlook
After a dip last month, layoff activity has ticked back up.
This data points to mounting pressure on the Alaska labor market, with activity running above both recent and year-ago benchmarks. The Retail sector warrants close attention heading into the next period.
This analysis is based on official WARN Act filings reported by Alaska. 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 Alaska WARN notices, browse layoffs by state, or download the full dataset.