The Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification (WARN) Act is a US federal labor law that requires covered employers to give 60 calendar days of advance written notice before a plant closing or a mass layoff. Drawn up in 1988, the purpose of the law is to give workers, their families, and local communities time to prepare for job loss, seek alternative employment, or access job retraining programs.
Receiving a WARN notice does not automatically mean you are definitely going to be laid off or made redundant. More often than not, however, it serves as a grim portent of an impending mass layoff event.
In this gallery, we list in descending order the largest single layoff events in the United States in recent years resulting from WARN notices filed by US companies against their workforce. Continue reading to learn more.