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Workforce Investments

Higher Education Coordinating Commission > Institutions & Programs > Workforce Investments > Employers Considering a Layoff

Employers Considering a Layoff

​​For Employers Considering a Layoff  

If you are considering a layoff off workers, contact your local WorkSource center for rapid response assistance. Local Rapid Response teams can help you navigate through this challenging process and assist with the development and implementation of a transition strategy.

Rapid Response Services are customized to meet employer’s and workers' needs. 

  • Many services are funded through the Workforce Innovation & Opportunity Act (WIOA) and are offered at no cost to you or your workers. Early involvement is essential to helping workers prepare to re-enter the workforce as quickly and seamlessly as possible.

Rapid Response coordination is flexible and responsive to the needs of Oregon employers providing customized, collaborative solutions to enable affected workers to return to work as quickly as possible.

Providing Rapid Response services to your workers during layoffs or business closures will result in multiple benefits to you as an employer. 

Employers should consider:

  • Space availability for the Rapid Response services and possible equipment such as computers, internet access, and workshop space).

  • Human resource staff assistance for transitioning workers such as typing resumes, helping with job fair arrangements, or providing coaching on interviewing skills.

  • Paid time for workers to attend Rapid Response Sessions and job search activities.

Employers should expect Rapid Response Team questions such as:

  • Verify layoff/closure to determine when the layoff or closure is going to occur, or if, in fact, it has already occurred. Is there a likelihood of recall? If so, when?

  • Inquire about the reason for the layoff to be mindful of any potential Trade Act opportunities.

  • Verify the number of impacted workers—verify if all will be laid off on the same date, or a phased layoff.

  • Inquire about the presence of unions and collective bargaining agreements.

  • Inquire about industry and impacted occupations— what does the company do? What are the products the company makes and the types of occupations and skills group(s) that are being affected?

  • Discuss a Worker Survey which provides workers with an opportunity to tell Rapid Response staff what’s needed from their perspective, which may include training, job assistance, supportive services or any of the dozens of other services Rapid Response teams can provide to help them get back to work as quickly as possible. 

Pre-layoff Notification

The sooner the employer contacts the Rapid Response Program, the more time workers have to overcome their fears and develop a proactive plan to transition to new employment. Early intervention is absolutely the key to smooth transitions. In some cases, employers are required to provide 60 days notice before laying off workers. Visit Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification (WARN) Act for more information about the notice requirements.​ 

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For Employers before actual decisions to shut down or move

Business closures and worker layoffs can occur for a variety of reasons in periods of both economic expansion and decline. These reasons may include financial difficulty, mergers and acquisitions, loss of market share, consolidations, foreign competition, product or service obsolescence, shift in pa​rent company focus, or other factors. Opportunities may exist to save jobs and avoid resulting hardships imposed on individuals and communities when a business closes.

Early response is critical. 

  • Adequate Lead Time is Essential
    Oregon companies that were scheduled to close, but continued operations because of a response initiated by one or more interest groups such as employees, management representatives, government and community groups, and labor organizations. These responses have included management or employee buyouts, sale to other parties, business restructuring and incumbent worker training.

Layoff Aversion Is a Cooperative Effort

  • An important initial step in Rapid Response is to assess the reason for a business closing or layoff. If there is an indication that the business closing or layoff might be averted, Oregon’s Dislocated Worker Unit, in conjunction with the local Rapid Response Teams and other partners can provide technical assistance to interested parties to investigate possible layoff aversion strategies.

In order for Rapid Response Teams to work effectively, early intervention is critical. For a layoff aversion effort to succeed there must be sufficient time to organize an effective response.

​Contact Us

Staff directory for Office of Workforce Investments and Partners ​

Oregon Rapid Response and Layoff Aversion Information and Contacts​