Illinois Layoffs — March 2020

Employers in Illinois submitted 221 WARN Act notices in March 2020, putting at risk an estimated 33,005 workers — up substantially from February. The average filing covered 149 workers, with 46 closures among the notices.

Industry Breakdown

The Accommodation & Food sector emerged as the hardest-hit sector with 23,323 workers across 119 notices. Separately, Arts & Entertainment reported 2,395 workers.

Geographic Hotspots

Cook saw the most concentrated activity, accounting for 79% of all affected workers with 25,973 workers across 163 notices.

Layoff Type Analysis

Closures accounted for 25% of affected workers, while the majority of filings were layoffs rather than permanent shutdowns.

Largest Layoffs

Topping the list was HMS Host (O'Hare) at its West O'Hare Ave facility, reporting 1,400 affected workers. Hyatt followed with 1,009 workers.

Trend & Outlook

After a dip last month, layoff activity has ticked back up.

These figures highlight mounting pressure on the Illinois labor market, with activity running above both recent and year-ago benchmarks. The Accommodation & Food sector warrants close attention heading into the next period.

This analysis is based on official WARN Act filings reported by Illinois. 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 Illinois WARN notices, browse layoffs by state, or download the full dataset.