1

Technical information: (202) 691-6392

http://www.bls.gov/mls/

Media contact: 691-5902

USDL 04-1038

For release: 10:00 A.M. EDT

Thursday, June 10, 2004

EXTENDED MASS LAYOFFS ASSOCIATED WITH DOMESTIC

AND OVERSEAS RELOCATIONS, FIRST QUARTER 2004

Questions on job loss related to the movement of work were added to the Mass Layoff Statistics program in January 2004 by the Bureau of Labor Statistics of the U.S. Department of Labor. Data for the first

quarter of 2004 are included in the release. In the future, these data will be included in the regular quarterly

news release on Extended Mass Layoffs.

Extended mass layoffs and separations associated with the movement of work, domestically or overseas,

reflect job loss at companies employing at least 50 workers where at least 50 people filed for unemployment

insurance during a five-week period and the layoff lasted more than 30 days. The extended mass layoff statistics and movement of work measures, therefore, do not reflect layoffs of less than 50 at these companies,

nor do they capture layoffs occurring at establishments with less than 50 workers. (About one-third of all

private nonfarm mass layoff events extend for more than 30 days.) Similarly, these data do not cover situations in which firms initiate or transfer work to new locations when there are no layoffs involved. (See the

Technical Note for additional information.)

Of the 239,361 private sector nonfarm workers who were separated from their jobs for at least 31 days

in the first quarter of 2004, the separations of 4,633 workers were associated with the movement of work

outside of the country, according to preliminary data. Domestic relocation of work—both within the company and to other companies—affected 9,985 workers. (See table A.)

From January to March 2004, job loss associated with the relocation of work was reported in 119 layoff events, resulting in the separation of 16,021 workers. (See table B.) Events associated with movement

of work accounted for about 14 percent of all layoff events and 9 percent of separations where the reason

for the layoff was other than seasonal or vacation. Three out of four events (90 out of 119) associated with

movement of work occurred among establishments within the same company. In more than 7 out of 10

cases, the work activities were reassigned to places elsewhere in the U.S. In the 29 events in which work

activities were reassigned to another company under contractual arrangements, half of the instances involved

relocation of work outside the U.S. and half to companies within the U.S.

Among the 119 events with reported relocation of work, 51 percent were permanent closures of worksites, which affected 10,019 workers. In comparison, for the 1,204 total layoff events reported in the first

quarter of 2004, only 17 percent involved permanent closure of worksites.
2

Total, private nonfarm sector ................ 1,204 239,361

 Total, excluding seasonal and

 vacation events ............................. 869 182,456

 Total with movement of work ...... 119 16,021

 Overseas relocations ................. 34 4,633

Within company .................... 21 2,976

Different company ................ 13 1,657

 Domestic relocations ................ 79 9,985

Within company .................... 65 8,191

Different company ................ 14 1,794

Action

Table A. Extended mass layoff events and separations by selected

employer action, first quarter 2004

1

 1 The questions on movement of work were not asked of employers when

the reason for layoff was either seasonal work or vacation period.

 2 Detail does not add to group total due to incomplete information.

Layoff events Separations

2

In establishments that had layoffs related to the movement of work, the average size of a layoff was 135

workers. This compares with an average of 199 for all establishments that had extended mass layoffs in the

first quarter of 2004.

Sixty-eight percent of the layoff events involving the movement of work and 65 percent of the laid-off

workers were from manufacturing industries during the first quarter of 2004. Among all private nonfarm

extended layoffs, manufacturing accounted for 32 percent of the events and 24 percent of the separations.

(See table 1.)

Internal company restructuring (bankruptcy, business ownership change, financial difficulty, and reorganization) accounted for 70 percent of layoff events associated with work relocation and resulted in 11,600 

separations during the first quarter. (See table 2.) Most of these were due to reorganization within the 

company. In contrast, only 25 percent of the mass layoff events in the total private nonfarm economy were 

because of internal company restructuring.

The Midwest accounted for the largest proportion of workers in extended mass layoff events associated

with the movement of work (34 percent) in the first quarter of 2004, followed by the South (31 percent),

the West (27 percent), and the Northeast (8 percent). (See table 3.) For all extended mass layoff events,

separations were concentrated in the West (43 percent), followed by the Midwest (29 percent), the South

(16 percent), and the Northeast (12 percent).

1
3

Total, private nonfarm sector ................ 1,204 239,361

 Total, excluding seasonal and

 vacation events............................... 869 182,456

 Total with movement of work ....... 119 16,021

 Within company ........................ 90 11,917

Domestic ................................. 65 8,191

Out of country ......................... 21 2,976

 Different company ..................... 29 4,104

Domestic ................................. 14 1,794

Out of country ......................... 13 1,657

Table B. Extended mass layoff events and separations by movement

of work, first quarter 2004

Type of movement

 1 The questions on movement of work were not asked of employers when

the reason for layoff was either seasonal work or vacation period.

 2 Detail does not add to group total due to incomplete information.

Layoff events Separations

1

1

2

2
Technical Note

The Mass Layoff Statistics (MLS) program is a federal-state

program which identifies, describes, and tracks the effects of

major job cutbacks, using data from each state’s unemployment insurance database. Establishments which have at

least 50 initial claims filed against them during a consecutive

5-week period are contacted by the state agency to determine

whether these separations are of at least 31 days duration, and,

if so, information is obtained on the total number of persons

separated and the reasons for these separations. Establishments are identified according to industry classification

and location. Because of the employer contact component,

the BLS decided to use the MLS program as a vehicle for collecting additional information on offshoring and outsourcing

associated with job loss, by adding questions that address

movement of work.

Definitions

Establishment. A unit at a single physical location at which

predominantly one type of economic activity is conducted.

Extended layoff event. Fifty or more initial claims for

unemployment insurance benefits from an establishment

during a 5-week period, with at least 50 workers separated for

more than 30 days.

Layoff. The separation of persons from an employer as part

of a mass layoff event. (See below.) Such layoffs involve both

persons subject to recall and those who are terminated by the

establishment.

Mass layoff. Fifty or more initial claims for unemployment

insurance benefits from an establishment beginning in a given

month, regardless of duration.

Worksite closure. The complete closure of either multi-unit

or single-unit establishments or the partial closure of a multiunit establishment where entire worksites affected by layoffs

are closed or planned to be closed.

Movement of work concepts and questions

The term “moving work” means that the company

experiencing the layoff has reassigned work activities that

were performed at a worksite by the company’s employees (1)

to another worksite within the company; (2) to another company under formal arrangements at the same worksite; or (3)

to another company under formal arrangements at another

worksite. The type of work activities subject to movement can

include accounting, customer service, cleaning, warehousing,

etc.

“Overseas relocation” is the movement of work from within

the U.S. to locations outside of the U.S. “Overseas relocation”

can occur within the same company and involve movement of

work to a different location of that company outside of the

U.S., or to a different company altogether.

“Domestic relocation” is the movement of work to other

locations inside the U.S., either within the same company or

to a different company.

“Overseas relocation” and “domestic relocation” are no

longer used in the same way as they were in earlier extended

mass layoff news releases. Therefore, the data presented in

this news release are not comparable to those that were

presented in earlier news releases.

Questions on movement of work and location are asked for

all identified layoff events when the reason for separation is

other than “seasonal work” or “vacation period.” Seasonal

and vacation layoff events were excluded because movement

of work appears unlikely.

Questions on movement of work are asked after the analyst

verifies that a layoff in fact occurred and lasted more than 30

days, and obtained the total number of workers separated from

jobs, the date the layoff began, and the economic reason for

the layoff. If the reason for layoff is other than seasonal or

vacation, the employer was asked the following:

(1) “Did this layoff include your company moving work from

this location(s) to a different geographic location(s) within

your company?”

(2) “Did this layoff include your company moving work that

was performed in-house by your employees to a different

company, through contractual arrangements?”

A “yes” response to either question is followed by:

“Is the location inside or outside of the U.S.?” and “How

many of the layoffs were a result of this relocation?”

Layoff actions are classified as “overseas relocation” if the

employer responds “yes” to questions 1 and/or 2, and

indicates that the location(s) was outside of the U.S. Domestic

relocation is determined if the employer responds “yes” to

questions 1 and/or 2 and indicates that the location(s) was

within the U.S.

After asking the movement of work questions, the employer

contact continues and responses are obtained for questions

on recall expectations and open/closed status of the worksite.

Reliability of the data

The identification of establishments and layoff events in

the MLS program and associated characteristics of claimants

is based on administrative data on covered establishments and

unemployment insurance claims, and, therefore, is not subject

to issues associated with sampling error. Nonsampling errors

such as typographical errors may occur but are not likely to

be significant. While the MLS establishments and layoff

events are not subject to sampling error, and all such

employers are asked the employer contact questions, the

employer responses are subject to nonsampling error.

Nonsampling error can occur for many reasons, including the

inability to obtain information for all respondents, inability or

unwillingness of respondents to provide correct information,

and errors made in the collection or processing of the data. For

the first quarter of 2004, outright refusal to participate in the

employer contact accounted for 7.2 percent of all private

nonfarm events.

Other information

Information in this release will be made available to sensory impaired individuals upon request. Voice phone:

202-691-5200; TDD message referral phone: 1-800-877-8339.
Table 1. Industry distribution: Extended mass layoff events and separations associated

with the movement of work, first quarter 2004

Total

Associated 

with the 

movement of 

work

Total

Associated 

with the 

movement of 

work

 Total, private nonfarm ................................. 1,204 108 239,361 16,021 

 Mining................................................................. 14 – 1,421 –

 Utilities................................................................ 5 ( 1 ) 557 ( 1 )

 Construction....................................................... 229 – 24,549 –

 Manufacturing..................................................... 386 73 57,616 10,438 

 Food............................................................... 70 7 11,005 1,308 

 Beverage and tobacco products..................... 10 ( 1 ) 1,694 ( 1 )

 Textile mills..................................................... 14 3 2,022 554 

 Textile product mills........................................ 7 ( 1 ) 1,045 ( 1 )

 Apparel........................................................... 16 5 2,251 1,189 

 Leather and allied products............................ 4 ( 1 ) 653 ( 1 )

 Wood products............................................... 14 ( 1 ) 1,661 ( 1 )

 Paper.............................................................. 11 4 1,599 227 

 Printing and related support activities............. 13 3 1,732 122 

 Petroleum and coal products.......................... 5 – 392 –

 Chemicals....................................................... 14 4 2,055 634 

 Plastics and rubber products.......................... 18 5 2,452 857 

 Nonmetallic mineral products......................... 21 – 2,686 –

 Primary metal................................................. 13 – 2,215 –

 Fabricated metal products.............................. 20 3 2,158 340 

 Machinery....................................................... 20 6 2,135 870 

 Computer and electronic products.................. 32 7 3,912 785 

 Electrical equipment and appliance................ 13 6 2,312 1,027 

 Transportation equipment............................... 39 7 8,874 985 

 Furniture and related products....................... 19 4 2,965 497 

 Miscellaneous manufacturing......................... 13 4 1,798 470 

 Wholesale trade.................................................. 28 4 3,579 915 

 Retail trade......................................................... 132 4 86,884 362 

 Transportation and warehousing........................ 34 4 6,189 1,075 

 Information.......................................................... 44 7 7,837 1,449 

 Finance and insurance....................................... 46 5 7,207 637 

 Real estate and rental and leasing..................... ( 1 ) – ( 1 ) –

 Professional and technical services................... 31 ( 1 ) 3,363 ( 1 )

 Management of companies and enterprises...... 5 ( 1 ) 492 ( 1 )

 Administrative and waste services..................... 131 4 21,067 597 

 Educational services........................................... ( 1 ) – ( 1 ) –

 Health care and social assistance...................... 29 ( 1 ) 4,175 ( 1 )

 Arts, entertainment, and recreation.................... 14 – 1,238 –

 Accommodation and food services..................... 53 – 9,110 –

 Other services, except public administration...... 15 ( 1 ) 2,955 ( 1 )

 Unknown ................................................... 2 – 229 –

 1

 Data do not meet BLS or state agency disclosure standards.

 NOTE: Dash represents zero. All data in this table are preliminary.

Industry

Layoff events Separations
Table 2. Reason for layoff: Extended mass layoff events and separations associated with 

the movement of work, first quarter 2004

Total

Associated 

with the 

movement of 

work

Total

Associated 

with the 

movement of 

work

 Total, private nonfarm ........................................ 1,204 108 239,361 16,021 

Automation ........................................................... ( 1

 ) ( 1 ) ( 1 ) ( 1 )

Bankruptcy ............................................................ 28 – 8,422 –

Business ownership change ................................. 31 5 4,217 512 

Contract cancellation ............................................ 29 ( 1 ) 4,238 ( 1 )

Contract completed .............................................. 170 ( 1 ) 51,795 ( 1 )

Environment-related ............................................. – – – –

Financial difficulty ................................................. 84 12 15,755 2,394 

Import competition ................................................ 14 3 1,182 219 

Labor dispute ........................................................ 4 – 21,293 –

Material shortage .................................................. ( 1 ) – ( 1 ) –

Model changeover ................................................ ( 1 ) – ( 1 ) –

Natural disaster .................................................... ––––

Plant or machine repair ........................................ ( 1 ) – ( 1 ) –

Product line discontinued ..................................... 8 ( 1 ) 1,675 ( 1 )

Reorganization within company ............................ 162 59 26,982 8,736 

Seasonal work ...................................................... 332 ( 2 ) 56,478 ( 2 )

Slack work ............................................................ 146 4 16,999 291 

Vacation period ..................................................... 3 ( 2 ) 427 ( 2 )

Weather-related .................................................... 15 – 1,382 –

Other ..................................................................... 56 21 11,004 3,410 

Not reported .......................................................... 115 – 15,656 –

 1 Data do not meet BLS or state agency disclosure standards.

 2

 The questions on movement of work were not asked of employers when the reason for layoff was

either seasonal work or vacation period.

 NOTE: Dash represents zero. All data in this table are preliminary.

Industry

Layoff events Separations
Table 3. Census region and division: Extended mass layoff events and separations associated

with the movement of work, first quarter 2004

Total Associated with the 

movement of work Total Associated with the 

movement of work

 United States ...................................... 1,204 108 239,361 16,021 

Northeast ..................................................... 215 11 28,978 1,327 

 New England ........................................... 56 ( 1

 ) 7,355 ( 1 )

 Middle Atlantic ......................................... 159 ( 1 ) 21,623 ( 1 )

South ........................................................... 246 30 38,832 5,011 

 South Atlantic ........................................... 155 17 25,267 2,355 

 East South Central ................................... 28 5 3,889 956 

 West South Central .................................. 63 8 9,676 1,700 

Midwest ........................................................ 430 38 68,214 5,403 

 East North Central ................................... 359 32 57,697 4,216 

 West North Central .................................. 71 6 10,517 1,187 

West ............................................................. 313 29 103,337 4,280 

 Mountain .................................................. 33 ( 1

 ) 5,694 ( 1 )

 Pacific ...................................................... 280 ( 1 ) 97,643 ( 1 )

 1 Data do not meet BLS or state agency disclosure Kentucky, Mississippi, and Tennessee; West South Central: 

standards. Arkansas, Louisiana, Oklahoma, and Texas; East North 

 NOTE: The States (including the District of Columbia) that Central: Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Ohio, and Wisconsin; 

comprise the census divisions are: New England: Connect- West North Central: Iowa, Kansas, Minnesota, Missouri, 

icut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, Nebraska, North Dakota, and South Dakota; Mountain:

and Vermont; Middle Atlantic: New Jersey, New York, and Arizona, Colorado, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico

Pennsylvania; South Atlantic: Delaware, District of Columbia, Utah, and Wyoming; and Pacific: Alaska, California, Hawaii,

Florida, Georgia, Maryland, North Carolina, South Carolina, Oregon, and Washington. All data in this table are

Virginia, and West Virginia; East South Central: Alabama, preliminary.

Industry

Layoff events Separations