Washington Layoffs — October 2019
Employers in Washington filed 13 WARN Act notices in October 2019, impacting roughly 1,106 workers — representing a notable rise over September and up 97% versus October 2018. The average filing covered 85 workers, with 4 closures among the notices.
Industry Breakdown
| Industry | Notices | Workers |
|---|---|---|
| Healthcare | 1 | 259 |
| Agriculture | 2 | 259 |
| Accommodation & Food | 3 | 213 |
| Information & Technology | 2 | 119 |
| Manufacturing | 1 | 92 |
| Transportation | 1 | 59 |
| Construction | 1 | 58 |
| Education | 1 | 40 |
The Healthcare sector led the way in workforce reductions with 259 workers across 1 notice. In a parallel development, Agriculture reported 259 workers.
Geographic Hotspots
| County | Notices | Workers |
|---|---|---|
| King | 8 | 741 |
| Benton | 2 | 259 |
| Spokane | 1 | 59 |
| Whatcom | 1 | 40 |
| Pierce | 1 | 7 |
King was the epicenter of layoff activity, accounting for 67% of all affected workers with 741 workers across 8 notices.
| City | Notices | Workers |
|---|---|---|
| Seattle | 3 | 435 |
| Redmond | 3 | 298 |
| Prosser | 2 | 259 |
| Spokane Valley | 1 | 59 |
| Bellingham | 1 | 40 |
Layoff Type Analysis
| Type | Notices | Workers |
|---|---|---|
| Layoff | 4 | 347 |
| Closure | 4 | 151 |
Closures accounted for 14% of affected workers, while the majority of filings were layoffs rather than permanent shutdowns.
Largest Layoffs
| Company | City | Workers | Type | Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Keiro Northwest | Seattle | 259 | ||
| Zirkle Fruit | Prosser | 164 | Layoff | |
| Applus Technologies | Seattle | 118 | Layoff | |
| Wyndham Vacation Clubs | Redmond | 103 | Closure | |
| Wyndham Vacation Ownership | Redmond | 103 | ||
| Zirkle Fruit | Prosser | 95 | ||
| Clarisonic (aka Pacific Bioscience Laboratories and Pacific Bioscience Laborator | Redmond | 92 | ||
| MV Transportation | Spokane Valley | 59 | ||
| Katerra | Seattle | 58 | Layoff | |
| School Specialty Inc / Premier Agendas | Bellingham | 40 | Closure | |
| FleetPride | Tacoma | 7 | Closure | |
| Oakwood Worldwide (US) | Tukwila | 7 | Layoff | |
| Backflip Studios | Renton | 1 | Closure |
The single largest action involved Keiro Northwest at its Seattle facility, reporting 259 affected workers. Zirkle Fruit followed with 164 workers.
Trend & Outlook
After a dip last month, layoff activity has ticked back up.
The data underscores mounting pressure on the Washington labor market, with activity running above both recent and year-ago benchmarks. The Healthcare 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.