December 20 Is the Newest Week on the WARN Calendar — 2,551 Workers Scheduled
The WARN calendar has grown by one week. The week starting December 20 is now the newest week with scheduled layoff effective dates, carrying 2,551 reported workers. It is the lightest of the six weeks currently on the calendar — but it still matters, because it shows the pipeline of planned layoffs extending into the final week before Christmas.
The calendar only extends when employers file notices with effective dates that far out. A new week appearing at the far end is a normal part of how the data works: as notices arrive, the horizon moves forward by roughly a week.
The six weeks on the calendar now
Here is the full six-week picture, using the latest figures from Layoff Atlas:
- Week of November 15: 5,537 workers
- Week of November 22: 6,614 workers — the heaviest week ahead
- Week of November 29: 6,202 workers
- Week of December 6: 857 workers — the lightest week on the calendar
- Week of December 13: 5,310 workers
- Week of December 20: 2,551 workers — the newest week
Across all six weeks, 27,071 workers are scheduled for layoffs to take effect — about 44% of the 61,493 workers in the current 90-day WARN window, which covers 681 notices. The December 20 week alone accounts for about 4% of that 90-day total.
The shape of the calendar is uneven. The three weeks from November 15 to November 29 carry 18,353 workers between them, while the three December weeks carry 8,718. The quiet week of December 6, with 857 workers, sits between two much heavier weeks — filings cluster around the end of November and the middle of December rather than spreading evenly.
What is in the December 20 week
The single date of December 20 already has three known filings behind it. The largest is Dreyer's Grand Ice Cream, with an 803-worker temporary filing in Howard County, Maryland, effective December 20. DSquared Hospitality filed an 83-worker closure notice for its Bellevue, Washington location, also effective December 20. Republic Amusements filed a 48-worker notice in Camp Hill, Pennsylvania, effective the same day.
Those three filings are a reminder of how concentrated a single effective date can be. One employer's seasonal filing — Dreyer's accounts for the large majority of the December 20 date — can dominate a whole week. Temporary filings are still WARN notices: the law requires the same 60 days' notice for a temporary layoff of six months or less when it meets the size thresholds, and the workers affected still face weeks without pay.
More filings with December 20 effective dates may still arrive. Notices are published on different schedules in different states, and some employers file closer to the 60-day minimum. The 2,551 figure is a snapshot of what has been filed and published so far, not a final count for the week.
The national picture behind the calendar
The 90-day window currently holds 681 WARN notices covering 61,493 reported workers, with 29 notices carrying no usable worker count. California and Washington continue to dominate: California accounts for 22,043 workers and Washington for 17,333, together about 64% of all reported workers in the window. Virginia (2,556), Maryland (2,547), and Texas (2,419) round out the top five states.
That concentration is worth keeping in mind when reading any single week. A week that looks quiet nationally can still be heavy in one state, and a heavy week can be driven by one or two large filings in California or Washington rather than a broad national trend.
How to read a new week on the calendar
A week appearing on the calendar does not mean layoffs are rising or falling. It means the filing window has moved forward. The useful comparison is against the other weeks on the same calendar, and against the same week as reported in earlier weeks — the December 20 figure will almost certainly grow as more notices with that effective week are published.
Two dates matter for every filing. The notice date is when the employer told the state and the workers; the effective date is when the layoffs actually take effect. The WARN Act generally requires 60 days between the two for covered employers.
All of these figures describe reported plans, not confirmed job losses. Some notices are amended, delayed, or cancelled before the effective date, and some filings cover temporary layoffs from which workers are recalled. Coverage also varies by state: some states publish every qualifying notice promptly, while others publish slowly or not at all, so a quiet week in the data is not proof of a quiet week in reality.
What to watch next
The next calendar update will add the week of December 27, and the December 20 figure will move as new notices arrive. The question to watch is simple: does the December 20 week grow toward the 5,000-worker range of the weeks around it, or does it stay light? For workers, the 60-day notice period is the time to act — to check unemployment benefits, review health coverage, and look for the next job while still employed.
Data source: Layoff Atlas.
