Greater Chicago hit hard as Illinois sees 2,342 mass layoffs in January

Illinois companies announced 2,342 mass layoffs in January 2025, according to state reports. More than 9-in-10 job cuts impacted Cook and the collar counties.

Illinois companies announced 2,342 mass layoffs in January 2025, with more than 9 in 10 job cuts impacting Cook County and its surrounding counties, according to state reports.

Chicago saw 461 of the 2,342 layoffs after four companies, including Hard Rock International, announced they would be reducing their presence.

Lemont followed with the second-highest number of layoffs after the closure of the one of the nation’s leading residential treatment centers led to 229 job cuts.

Current business closures impacted two-thirds of workers and standard layoffs accounted for the remaining 801 job cuts. The state data shows nearly all these layoffs will be permanent.

Cook County saw 1,251 layoffs and another 903 job losses were in the collar counties. In total, 92% of January job cuts occurred in Cook and the collar counties.

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

But Illinois faces economic struggles.

December job reports showed roughly 340,000 Illinoisans seeking work. That unemployment rate of 5.2% was the third highest in the nation.

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.