Illinois companies announced 1,722 mass layoffs in September, with restructuring at Capital One leading to the single largest loss of jobs statewide.
Illinois companies announced 1,722 mass layoffs during September, with the single largest source of layoffs impacting workers in the Village of Riverwoods following financial restructuring at Capital One.
Of the 1,722 mass layoffs in September, 726 impacted workers in Chicago as six companies, including Spirit Airlines, Weiss Memorial Hospital and Brookdale Senior Living announced job cuts.
The next largest share of job cuts hit Riverwoods after Capital One announced 392 layoffs because of financial restructuring. The cuts came shortly after Capital One’s merger with Discover and will affect employees at Discover’s financial services headquarters in the northern suburb.
About 45% of the mass layoffs announced statewide impacted workers in suburban Cook County, with an additional 39% hitting the collar counties. The remaining cuts hit Champaign, Winnebago, Macon and Stephenson County.
Standard layoffs accounted for 650 of the Illinois job cuts announced in September, with business closures impacting an additional 430 workers. Furloughs and temporary layoffs accounted for another 97 cuts.
The employers did not indicate whether the remaining job cuts were related to business closures or standard layoffs, but the reports show about 63% of these mass layoffs will be permanent.
Illinois employers are mandated to file monthly mass layoff reports under the Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act if they have 75 or more full-time employees. While the reports serve as a gauge for job trends, they are not a perfect indicator of broader economic health.
Still, Illinois leaders could do a lot to improve the state’s business climate, including: reducing Illinois’ nation-leading state and local tax burden, beginning with its now No. 1 in the U.S. average property tax rate; lowering its third-highest corporate income taxes; and lowering the state’s 7.85% maximum unemployment insurance tax rate.
