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South Carolina Layoffs — March 2020

Employers in South Carolina logged 52 WARN Act notices in March 2020, involving roughly 9,518 workers — climbing above February and up 3324% versus March 2019. The average filing covered 183 workers, with 6 closures among the notices.

52
Notices Filed
9,518
Workers Affected
183
Avg per Notice
6
Closures

Industry Breakdown

Industry breakdown for South Carolina
IndustryNoticesWorkers
Manufacturing63,394
Accommodation & Food91,307
Transportation4667
Other172
Construction366
Retail165
Education151
Real Estate118

The Manufacturing sector dominated layoff filings with 3,394 workers across 6 notices. Meanwhile, Accommodation & Food reported 1,307 workers.

Geographic Hotspots

Top counties by layoff notices
CountyNoticesWorkers
Laurens12,300
Greenville102,161
Charleston141,073
Orangeburg1850
Spartanburg3816

Laurens saw the most concentrated activity, accounting for 24% of all affected workers with 2,300 workers across 1 notices.

Top cities by layoff notices
CityNoticesWorkers
Gray Court12,300
Greer21,059
Charleston11914
Orangeburg1850
Spartanburg3816

Layoff Type Analysis

Layoff types breakdown
TypeNoticesWorkers
Layoff468,838
Closure6680

Closures accounted for 7% of affected workers, while the majority of filings were layoffs rather than permanent shutdowns.

Largest Layoffs

Largest layoff notices
CompanyCityWorkersTypeDate
ZF TransmissionsGray Court2,300Layoff
Husqvarna Consumer OutdoorOrangeburg850Layoff
Mau – BmwGreer744Layoff
Cooper StandardSpartanburg520Layoff
Hamrick MillsGaffney405Layoff
MauGreer315Layoff
BentelerDuncan296Layoff
Hooters of AmericaColumbia283Layoff
The Westin Hilton Head Island Resort & SpaHilton Head Island276Layoff
Go RentalsCharleston275Layoff
ZF Chassis SystemsDuncan250Layoff
Chef’s PantryEasley240Closure
Rite Aid Distribution CenterSpartanburg224Closure
Halls Chophouse (Charleston)Charleston181Layoff
Halls Chophouse NextonSummerville151Layoff

The biggest impact was at ZF Transmissions at its Gray Court facility, reporting 2,300 affected workers. Husqvarna Consumer Outdoor followed with 850 workers.

Trend & Outlook

This marks the third consecutive month of rising layoff activity.

This data points to mounting pressure on the South Carolina labor market, with activity running above both recent and year-ago benchmarks. The Manufacturing sector warrants close attention heading into the next period.

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

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