Washington Layoffs — January 2026
Employers in Washington posted 13 WARN Act notices in January 2026, affecting an estimated 3,502 workers — reflecting a significant uptick compared to December and up 595% versus January 2025. The average filing covered 269 workers, with 3 closures among the notices.
Industry Breakdown
| Industry | Notices | Workers |
|---|---|---|
| Retail | 2 | 2,599 |
| Information & Technology | 2 | 493 |
| Healthcare | 4 | 190 |
| Manufacturing | 2 | 103 |
| Accommodation & Food | 1 | 101 |
| Wholesale Trade | 1 | 11 |
| Finance & Insurance | 1 | 5 |
The Retail sector saw the heaviest impact with 2,599 workers across 2 notices. On a related front, Information & Technology reported 493 workers.
Geographic Hotspots
| County | Notices | Workers |
|---|---|---|
| King | 11 | 3,390 |
| Yakima | 1 | 101 |
| Whatcom | 1 | 11 |
King felt the sharpest impact, accounting for 97% of all affected workers with 3,390 workers across 11 notices.
| City | Notices | Workers |
|---|---|---|
| Various locations in Washington | 3 | 2,604 |
| King County | 2 | 332 |
| Seattle | 4 | 302 |
| Union Gap | 1 | 102 |
| Selah | 1 | 101 |
Layoff Type Analysis
| Type | Notices | Workers |
|---|---|---|
| Layoff | 9 | 2,851 |
| Closure | 3 | 604 |
Closures accounted for 17% of affected workers, while the majority of filings were layoffs rather than permanent shutdowns.
Largest Layoffs
| Company | City | Workers | Type | Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Amazon | Various locations in Washington | 2,198 | Layoff | |
| Amazon | Various locations in Washington | 401 | Closure | |
| Meta | King County | 331 | Layoff | |
| Expedia | Seattle | 162 | Layoff | |
| International Paper | Union Gap | 102 | Closure | |
| Food Service Slicing LLC dba Crunch Pak | Selah | 101 | Closure | |
| Swedish Health Services | 50 | Layoff | ||
| Swedish Health Services | Seattle | 49 | Layoff | |
| Swedish Health Services | Seattle | 47 | ||
| Swedish Health Services | Seattle | 44 | Layoff | |
| CHS Northwest | Lynden | 11 | Layoff | |
| SMBC Manubank | Various locations in Washington | 5 | Layoff | |
| Tessera | King County | 1 | Layoff |
The largest notice was filed by Amazon at its Various locations in Washington facility, reporting 2,198 affected workers. Amazon followed with 401 workers.
Trend & Outlook
After a dip last month, layoff activity has ticked back up.
The trends suggest mounting pressure on the Washington labor market, with activity running above both recent and year-ago benchmarks. The Retail sector warrants close attention heading into the next period.
This analysis is based on official WARN Act filings reported by Washington. 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 Washington WARN notices, browse layoffs by state, or download the full dataset.