Illinois Layoffs — July 2020

Employers in Illinois submitted 48 WARN Act notices in July 2020, putting at risk an estimated 12,096 workers — up substantially from June. The average filing covered 252 workers, with 9 closures among the notices.

Industry Breakdown

The Transportation sector emerged as the hardest-hit sector with 8,719 workers across 12 notices. Separately, Accommodation & Food reported 1,589 workers.

Geographic Hotspots

Cook was the epicenter of layoff activity, accounting for 95% of all affected workers with 11,504 workers across 44 notices.

Layoff Type Analysis

Closures accounted for 8% of affected workers, while the majority of filings were layoffs rather than permanent shutdowns.

Largest Layoffs

Topping the list was United Airlines at its Chicago facility, reporting 4,275 affected workers. American Airlines followed with 1,767 workers.

Trend & Outlook

This marks the third consecutive month of rising layoff activity.

These figures highlight mounting pressure on the Illinois labor market, with activity running above both recent and year-ago benchmarks. The Transportation 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.