South Carolina Layoffs — February 2023
Employers in South Carolina reported 6 WARN Act notices in February 2023, displacing an estimated 591 workers — signaling an acceleration from January and up 91% versus February 2022. The average filing covered 98 workers, with 2 closures among the notices.
Industry Breakdown
| Industry | Notices | Workers |
|---|---|---|
| Manufacturing | 2 | 34 |
The Manufacturing sector topped the list of affected industries with 34 workers across 2 notices.
Geographic Hotspots
| County | Notices | Workers |
|---|---|---|
| Charleston | 1 | 266 |
| Anderson | 2 | 168 |
| Berkeley | 1 | 125 |
| Spartanburg | 1 | 30 |
| Richland | 1 | 2 |
Charleston felt the sharpest impact, accounting for 45% of all affected workers with 266 workers across 1 notices.
| City | Notices | Workers |
|---|---|---|
| Charleston | 1 | 266 |
| Anderson | 2 | 168 |
| Spartanburg | 1 | 30 |
Layoff Type Analysis
| Type | Notices | Workers |
|---|---|---|
| Layoff | 3 | 298 |
| Closure | 2 | 289 |
Closures accounted for 49% of affected workers, while the majority of filings were layoffs rather than permanent shutdowns.
Largest Layoffs
| Company | City | Workers | Type | Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| TELUS International | Charleston | 266 | Layoff | |
| Fraenkische USA | Anderson | 164 | Closure | |
| DAK Americas PET Resins | 125 | Closure | ||
| Phenix Engineered Textiles | Spartanburg | 30 | Layoff | |
| Fraenkische USA | Anderson | 4 | ||
| PeerStreet | 2 | Layoff |
The most significant filing came from TELUS International at its Charleston facility, reporting 266 affected workers. Fraenkische USA followed with 164 workers.
Trend & Outlook
This marks the third consecutive month of rising layoff activity.
The numbers illustrate 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.