Extended Mass Layoffs Associated With Domestic and Overseas Relocations, First Quarter 2004 Summary
Technical information: (202) 691-6392 USDL 04-1038
http://www.bls.gov/mls/
For release: 10:00 A.M. EDT
Media contact: 691-5902 Thursday, June 10, 2004
EXTENDED MASS LAYOFFS ASSOCIATED WITH DOMESTIC
AND OVERSEAS RELOCATIONS, FIRST QUARTER 2004
Questions on job loss related to the movement of work were added to
the Mass Layoff Statistics program in January 2004 by the Bureau of Labor
Statistics of the U.S. Department of Labor. Data for the first quarter
of 2004 are included in the release. In the future, these data will be
included in the regular quarterly news release on Extended Mass Layoffs.
Extended mass layoffs and separations associated with the movement of
work, domestically or overseas, reflect job loss at companies employing at
least 50 workers where at least 50 people filed for unemployment insurance
during a five-week period and the layoff lasted more than 30 days. The
extended mass layoff statistics and movement of work measures, therefore,
do not reflect layoffs of less than 50 at these companies, nor do they
capture layoffs occurring at establishments with less than 50 workers.
(About one-third of all private nonfarm mass layoff events extend for more
than 30 days.) Similarly, these data do not cover situations in which
firms initiate or transfer work to new locations when there are no layoffs
involved. (See the Technical Note for additional information.)
Of the 239,361 private sector nonfarm workers who were separated from
their jobs for at least 31 days in the first quarter of 2004, the separa-
tions of 4,633 workers were associated with the movement of work outside
of the country, according to preliminary data. Domestic relocation of
work--both within the company and to other companies--affected 9,985
workers. (See table A.)
From January to March 2004, job loss associated with the relocation
of work was reported in 119 layoff events, resulting in the separation of
16,021 workers. (See table B.) Events associated with movement of work
accounted for about 14 percent of all layoff events and 9 percent of se-
parations where the reason for the layoff was other than seasonal or vaca-
tion. Three out of four events (90 out of 119) associated with movement
of work occurred among establishments within the same company. In more
than 7 out of 10 cases, the work activities were reassigned to places else-
where in the U.S. In the 29 events in which work activities were reassigned
to another company under contractual arrangements, half of the instances in-
volved relocation of work outside the U.S. and half to companies within the
U.S.
- 2 -
Table A. Extended mass layoff events and separations by selected
employer action, first quarter 2004
----------------------------------------------------------------------
| |
Action | Layoff events | Separations
| |
------------------------------------|---------------|-----------------
| |
Total, private nonfarm sector.......| 1,204 | 239,361
| |
Total, excluding seasonal and | |
vacation events 1/..............| 869 | 182,456
| |
Total with movement of work 2/..| 119 | 16,021
| |
Overseas relocations..........| 34 | 4,633
Within company..............| 21 | 2,976
Different company...........| 13 | 1,657
| |
Domestic relocations..........| 79 | 9,985
Within company..............| 65 | 8,191
Different company...........| 14 | 1,794
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1 The questions on movement of work were not asked of employers
when the reason for layoff was either seasonal work or vacation period.
2 Detail does not add to group total due to incomplete information.
Among the 119 events with reported relocation of work, 51 percent were
permanent closures of worksites, which affected 10,019 workers. In compar-
ison, for the 1,204 total layoff events reported in the first quarter of
2004, only 17 percent involved permanent closure of worksites.
In establishments that had layoffs related to the movement of work, the
average size of a layoff was 135 workers. This compares with an average of
199 for all establishments that had extended mass layoffs in the first quar-
ter of 2004.
Sixty-eight percent of the layoff events involving the movement of work
and 65 percent of the laid-off workers were from manufacturing industries
during the first quarter of 2004. Among all private nonfarm extended lay-
offs, manufacturing accounted for 32 percent of the events and 24 percent
of the separations. (See table 1.)
Internal company restructuring (bankruptcy, business ownership change,
financial difficulty, and reorganization) accounted for 70 percent of lay-
off events associated with work relocation and resulted in 11,600 separa-
tions during the first quarter. (See table 2.) Most of these were due to
reorganization within the company. In contrast, only 25 percent of the mass
layoff events in the total private nonfarm economy were because of internal
company restructuring.
The Midwest accounted for the largest proportion of workers in extended
mass layoff events associated with the movement of work (34 percent) in the
first quarter of 2004, followed by the South (31 percent), the West (27 per-
cent), and the Northeast (8 percent). (See table 3.) For all extended mass
layoff events, separations were concentrated in the West (43 percent), fol-
lowed by the Midwest (29 percent), the South (16 percent), and the Northeast
(12 percent).
- 3 -
Table B. Extended mass layoff events and separations by movement
of work, first quarter 2004
----------------------------------------------------------------------
| |
Type of movement | Layoff events | Separations
| |
------------------------------------|---------------|-----------------
| |
Total, private nonfarm sector.......| 1,204 | 239,361
| |
Total, excluding seasonal | |
and vacation events 1/..........| 869 | 182,456
| |
Total with movement of work 1/..| 119 | 16,021
| |
Within company 2/.............| 90 | 11,917
Domestic....................| 65 | 8,191
Out of country..............| 21 | 2,976
| |
Different company 2/..........| 29 | 4,104
Domestic....................| 14 | 1,794
Out of country..............| 13 | 1,657
----------------------------------------------------------------------
1 The questions on movement of work were not asked of employers
when the reason for layoff was either seasonal work or vacation period.
2 Detail does not add to group total due to incomplete information.
Last Modified Date: June 10, 2004
United States Department of Labor
