Wisconsin Layoffs — March 2020

Employers in Wisconsin recorded 123 WARN Act notices in March 2020, covering approximately 25,713 workers — marking a sharp increase from February and up 853% versus March 2019. The average filing covered 209 workers, with 32 closures among the notices.

Industry Breakdown

The Government sector accounted for the largest share of job cuts with 8,728 workers across 16 notices. At the same time, Manufacturing reported 6,924 workers.

Geographic Hotspots

Dane bore the heaviest burden, accounting for 30% of all affected workers with 7,591 workers across 38 notices.

Layoff Type Analysis

Closures accounted for 28% of affected workers, while the majority of filings were layoffs rather than permanent shutdowns.

Largest Layoffs

Leading the list was Forest County Potawatomi Community at its Milwaukee facility, reporting 1,835 affected workers. YMCA of the Fox Cities followed with 1,546 workers.

Trend & Outlook

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

The filings reflect mounting pressure on the Wisconsin labor market, with activity running above both recent and year-ago benchmarks. The Government sector warrants close attention heading into the next period.

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