Illinois Layoffs — September 2023
Employers in Illinois submitted 10 WARN Act notices in September 2023, putting at risk an estimated 1,466 workers — down from August and up 78% versus September 2022. The average filing covered 147 workers, with 1 closure among the notices.
Industry Breakdown
| Industry | Notices | Workers |
|---|---|---|
| Manufacturing | 4 | 976 |
| Accommodation & Food | 2 | 213 |
| Transportation | 1 | 90 |
| Information & Technology | 1 | 82 |
| Other | 1 | 57 |
| Healthcare | 1 | 48 |
The Manufacturing sector emerged as the hardest-hit sector with 976 workers across 4 notices. Separately, Accommodation & Food reported 213 workers.
Geographic Hotspots
| County | Notices | Workers |
|---|---|---|
| Cook | 5 | 509 |
| Madison | 1 | 475 |
| Rock Island | 1 | 300 |
| DuPage | 2 | 139 |
| Lake | 1 | 43 |
Cook bore the heaviest burden, accounting for 35% of all affected workers with 509 workers across 5 notices.
| City | Notices | Workers |
|---|---|---|
| Granite City | 1 | 475 |
| Chicago | 4 | 419 |
| East Moline | 1 | 300 |
| Downers Grove | 2 | 139 |
| Niles | 1 | 90 |
Layoff Type Analysis
| Type | Notices | Workers |
|---|---|---|
| Layoff | 3 | 233 |
| Closure | 1 | 170 |
Closures accounted for 12% of affected workers, while the majority of filings were layoffs rather than permanent shutdowns.
Largest Layoffs
| Company | City | Workers | Type | Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| U.S. Steel | Granite City | 475 | ||
| John Deere | East Moline | 300 | ||
| Signature Room | Chicago | 170 | Closure | |
| Menasha Packaging | Chicago | 128 | Layoff | |
| MV Transportation | Niles | 90 | ||
| T-Mobile | Downers Grove | 82 | ||
| WestRock | Chicago | 73 | ||
| T-Mobile USA | Downers Grove | 57 | Layoff | |
| Heartland Alliance | Chicago | 48 | Layoff | |
| Sodexo | Lake Forest | 43 |
Topping the list was U.S. Steel at its Granite City facility, reporting 475 affected workers. John Deere followed with 300 workers.
Trend & Outlook
This is the third consecutive month of declining layoff activity.
These figures highlight a mixed picture for Illinois'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 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.