Wisconsin employers notified the Department of Workforce Development (DWD) of over 10,000 layoffs in 2015.
The exact number — 10,104 — is a new high for Gov. Scott Walker’s administration and the most in the state since 2010. Blue-collar workers were hit hardest with 38 percent losing their jobs in the manufacturing sector.
The recent DWD report divides the state into 11 geographical regions and says that 37 percent of the 10,104 layoff notices came from the Milwaukee area. South central Wisconsin accounted for about 9 percent while the southwest region had a statistical notification rate of zero.
The 2015 total doesn’t include numbers from two of the more high-profile layoffs that were recently announced in the state. Kraft Heinz will close it Oscar Mayer plant in Madison in 2016, eliminating 1,000 jobs. Tyson foods has announced it will shut down its Jefferson facility by October 2016, resulting in the loss of 400 positions.
