March mass layoffs hit Cook County hardest
Nearly 1,100 cuts were reported statewide in a range of industries.
Nearly 1,100 mass layoffs were disclosed in a state report for March, with the vast majority in Cook County.
The cuts were across a range of businesses and include the pending closure of a small college.
The biggest cuts came from Chicago-based Heartland Human Care Services, which houses unaccompanied minors coming to the United States. The organization announced 192 layoffs due to cuts from the U.S. Office of Refugee Resettlement.
Although 192 Heartland layoffs were disclosed in the state report, the organization expects to lay off about 337 employees total, according to a more recent announcement.
Perhaps the most high-profile layoffs came from the announcement that the Saks Fifth Avenue store on Michigan Avenue will close, resulting in 101 cuts.
Layoffs of over 100 employees also were reported by Millwood Inc., a wood container and pallet manufacturing company in west suburban Melrose Park; Walmart, which is closing a fulfillment center in south suburban Matteson; Southwest Airlines, which plans to end service in early June at O’Hare International Airport; Trinity Christian College in Palos Heights, which is closing at the end of the academic year; and Windy City Supply Chain.
The state monitors big job cuts via the Illinois Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification (WARN) Act, which requires large employers to report significant planned layoffs.
Just over half the cuts — 563 — are in the city of Chicago.
Job loss news serves as a warning about Illinois’ business climate. The state has dropped to 38th in a nationwide business tax climate ranking, and in recent research ranks 45th in the country for entrepreneurship and economic growth.
Illinois needs comprehensive reforms to improve its economic situation and reduce future layoffs. Those include ending excessive occupational licensing, expanding school choice, reducing the nation’s No. 1 property tax rate, lowering the third-highest corporate income taxes in the U.S., and investing more in apprenticeship programs to help keep companies and jobs in Illinois.