WPBN: According to federally mandated WARN reports, Kansas firms closed their workplaces and laid off approximately 3,500 workers in 2024. The Kansas City metro area saw a large number of layoffs.
On Monday, December 2, Tyson Foods stated that more than 800 employees would be laid off from its Emporia operation, surpassing the state’s 2023 total of layoffs recorded through WARN notices.
In order to give workers who are facing layoffs adequate time to move to new industries or jobs before losing their existing jobs, the Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act was passed in 1988.
WARN notices do not apply to all firms. Generally speaking, these alerts are only necessary when businesses intend to fire fifty or more workers from a single location. This typically occurs when factories or plants close, or when a company’s workforce is drastically rearranged.
Additionally, when a layoff accounts for less than one-third of an employer’s workforce at a site—as was the case with Spirit, an aviation manufacturer that employs roughly 9,500 people in Wichita—WARN warnings are not necessary.
In 2024, Kansas workers received 12 WARN warnings, which announced the layoffs of an anticipated 3,542 persons, more than the 2,923 that were announced in 2023. This is where the layoffs from this year took place.
Which Kansas locations saw the highest number of mass layoffs?
This year, Kansas City was the site of the majority of the huge layoffs that were publicized through WARN warnings. On September 19, General Motors announced the largest layoffs, affecting an estimated 1,695 employees.
This year, there were a lot of layoffs in Kansas City’s logistics sector. Legacy Distribution Warehouse said that 76 employees would be laid off. Comprehensive Logistics reported 18 layoffs on September 20 and Penske Logistics announced 70 on June 13. A WARN letter was probably necessary since a complete plant or facility shut down, even though less than 50 individuals lost their jobs in the last instance.
Lastly, on September 18, French auto supplier OPmobility said that it was laying off 72 workers, increasing the number of layoffs disclosed through WARN letters in Kansas City, Kansas, to 1,931.
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In Kansas, where else did widespread layoffs occur?
In 2024, Tyson Foods Inc. announced that it would lay off an estimated 809 employees from its Emporia facility on Monday, December 2, making it the second-largest mass layoff in Kansas. Additionally, Walmart said on May 17 that it would lay off an estimated 318 employees in Edgerton.
Two large-scale layoffs were announced on the same day in early 2024 in Fort Scott, which is located in southeast Kansas. An estimated 152 individuals were laid off by Timken Belts, a provider of industrial machinery parts. On the same day, wholesale merchandiser Valu Merchandisers Company announced it was closing its Fort Scott location, which resulted in the layoff of all 118 workers.
Lastly, on July 29, Hostess Brands announced 79 layoffs in Lenexa, and on January 2, Unidine, a food service company, announced 67 layoffs in Wichita.
Electrical engineering firm Eaton Corporation also reported layoffs of an estimated 68 employees in Kansas; however, the federal WARN database did not specify the facility’s location or date of layoffs.
