Oregon employers have reported more than 11,000 layoffs since the start of last year, a torrid pace of job cuts amid the steady deterioration of the state’s labor market.
Employers are averaging more than 600 Oregon layoffs a month so far this year after averaging about 550 a month in 2024, according to layoff notices filed with the state. That’s comparable to rampant job cuts in 2008 and 2009 during the Great Recession, when the state’s jobless rate topped 11%.
Economic conditions aren’t nearly as severe now. Unemployment has been rising steadily over the past year but is still just 5%, a moderate level by historical standards. That suggests that most people who lose their jobs are finding new work relatively quickly, unlike in 2008.
Some key parts of Oregon’s economy are struggling now, though.
Intel, Oregon’s largest corporate employer, accounted for a third of Oregon’s layoffs since the start of 2024. The chipmaker laid off 1,300 in October 2024 and another 2,400 this summer, cutting costs in response to falling sales and failing technology.
Other employers reporting mass layoffs over the past two years include Wells Fargo (872 job cuts), Nike (740), OHSU (439), Albertsons (256) and Fred Meyer (248).
Congress passed the Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act in 1988. Among other requirements, it mandates that large organizations give workers 60 days’ notice before major layoffs and notify local public officials of major job cuts.
There are many exceptions to those requirements, though, and enforcement of its provisions is uneven. So WARN notices are far from a comprehensive tally of Oregon layoffs.
Even at current levels, recent layoffs are far below the records set in the pandemic’s early days. More than 5,300 workers lost their jobs in April 2020 alone.
Still, the sharp uptick in reported layoffs since 2023 underscores the big changes again roiling the state’s economy. The manufacturing, construction and hospitality sectors have been especially weak.
There are signs the national job market is cooling, too, with job growth flat and unemployment creeping upward to 4.3% last month. Oregon will issue its August job numbers Wednesday.
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