781 layoffs in September, with Amazon closing a Chicago facility

Chicago led Illinois for mass layoffs in September after Amazon announced it was closing its Goose Island fulfillment center.

Illinois companies announced 781 mass layoffs in September, with more than one-quarter from a Chicago Amazon facility closing, according to Illinois Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification reports.

The highest concentration of Illinois’ September job losses – 211 of the 781 layoffs – hit Chicago after Amazon announced it would close its fulfillment center on Goose Island.

Chicago accounted for more than one-quarter of the mass layoffs in September.

Business closures impacted 662 workers. Standard layoffs accounted for only 119 job cuts.

Cook County saw 372 layoffs while another 106 job losses occurred in the collar counties. No location was reported for 119 layoffs announced by Cygnus Home Services LLC.

Illinois employers are mandated to file monthly mass layoff reports under the WARN Act. While the reports serve as a gauge for job trends, they are not a perfect indicator of broader economic health.

Illinois ranked 37th in the nation for business tax climate, down eight spots from the 2018 ranking, according to the Tax Foundation’s 2024 State Business Tax Climate report.

Illinois state leaders could do a lot to make Illinois more attractive to businesses and workers. Some good places to begin would be lowering Illinois’ No. 2 in the nation average property tax rate, lowering the nation’s second-highest corporate income taxes and the 8.65% maximum unemployment insurance tax rate.