Kentucky Layoffs — April 2020
Employers in Kentucky posted 22 WARN Act notices in April 2020, affecting an estimated 4,027 workers — reflecting a cooling compared to March and up 1651% versus April 2019. The average filing covered 183 workers, with 4 closures among the notices.
Industry Breakdown
| Industry | Notices | Workers |
|---|---|---|
| Manufacturing | 4 | 1,131 |
| Healthcare | 2 | 758 |
| Transportation | 2 | 322 |
| Mining & Energy | 2 | 296 |
| Wholesale Trade | 3 | 261 |
The Manufacturing sector saw the heaviest impact with 1,131 workers across 4 notices. On a related front, Healthcare reported 758 workers.
Geographic Hotspots
| County | Notices | Workers |
|---|---|---|
| Jefferson County - Louisville | 3 | 568 |
| Warren | 1 | 541 |
| Boyle | 1 | 510 |
| Hancock | 1 | 398 |
| Christian | 2 | 363 |
Jefferson County - Louisville saw the most concentrated activity, accounting for 14% of all affected workers with 568 workers across 3 notices.
| City | Notices | Workers |
|---|---|---|
| Louisville | 8 | 1,297 |
| Bowling Green | 1 | 541 |
| Lexington | 1 | 55 |
| Murray | 1 | 11 |
Layoff Type Analysis
| Type | Notices | Workers |
|---|---|---|
| Layoff | 18 | 3,478 |
| Closure | 4 | 549 |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fruit of The Loom | Bowling Green | 541 | Layoff | |
| Ephraim McDowell Health | 510 | Layoff | ||
| Domtar Paper | 398 | Layoff | ||
| Visionworks | 269 | Layoff | ||
| The Muhlenberg County Coal | 254 | Closure | ||
| Jennie Stuart Medical Center | 248 | Layoff | ||
| Bedding Acquisition LLC-Hollander Sleep Products | Louisville | 234 | Closure | |
| GUESS Distribution Center | Louisville | 230 | Layoff | |
| Leggett & Platt | Louisville | 210 | Layoff | |
| Safran Landing Systems Kentucky | Louisville | 181 | Layoff | |
| Hendrickson | Louisville | 179 | Layoff | |
| Hendrickson | Louisville | 117 | Layoff | |
| Huhtamaki | 115 | Layoff | ||
| Enterprise Rent-A-Car | Louisville | 104 | Layoff | |
| Jackson Warewashing Systems | 94 | Layoff |
The largest notice was filed by Fruit of The Loom at its Bowling Green facility, reporting 541 affected workers. Ephraim McDowell Health followed with 510 workers.
Trend & Outlook
The trends suggest a mixed picture for Kentucky's labor market, with activity diverging between monthly and annual comparisons. The Manufacturing sector warrants close attention heading into the next period.
This analysis is based on official WARN Act filings reported by Kentucky. 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 Kentucky WARN notices, browse layoffs by state, or download the full dataset.