Health Alliance closing costs Champaign 612 jobs; Illinois layoffs hit 1,477

Illinois companies announced 1,477 mass layoffs during May. The highest concentration of cuts impacted Champaign after one of the state’s largest health insurers, Health Alliance, announced it would end coverage and halt operations.

Illinois companies announced 1,477 mass layoffs during May, with 612 in Champaign after Health Alliance Medical Plans announced it would cease operations by 2026.

Health Alliance Medical Plans is a subsidiary of Carle Health that serves over 240,000 members. It announced it would end all coverage by the start of 2026 and halt operations.

The second-highest number of layoffs was at Cleveland-Cliffs Riverdale LLC in Riverdale. The manufacturing company announced it was cutting 281 positions at its Riverdale steel plant, where it produces flat-rolled steel mainly for the automotive industry.

More than one-quarter of the mass layoffs announced statewide impacted workers in Cook County, with an additional one-quarter in the collar counties. Of the remaining 693 statewide – 640 were in Champaign County.

Business closures accounted for two-thirds of the Illinois mass layoffs where a reason was given. Operational layoffs impacted an additional 458 workers. Most of the job cuts were because of financial issues faced by the employers.

Employer reporting showed about 81% of the mass layoffs will be permanent.

Illinois employers are required 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 of job trends, they are not necessarily a reliable indicator of broader economic health.

Illinois’ 4.8% unemployment rate in April exceeded the national average of 4.2%. That unemployment rate translates into more than 321,000 Illinoisans looking for work, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Illinois state leaders could do a lot to make Illinois more attractive to businesses and workers. Some good places to start would be: reducing Illinois’ nation-leading state and local tax burden, beginning with its No. 2-in-the-nation average property tax rate; lowering its third-highest corporate income taxes; and lowering the state’s 8.65% maximum unemployment insurance tax rate.