The Week of December 12 — 3,755 Workers Scheduled as the WARN Calendar Extends Into Mid-December

The WARN calendar just got one week longer. The week of December 12, 2026 — the newest week visible on the Layoff Atlas registry — now carries 3,755 workers scheduled for layoffs. It is a modest week by the standards of this fall, but its arrival says something useful about how the calendar fills in: slowly, one notice at a time, and usually well before the effective date arrives.

The six weeks at a glance

Here is the full six-week calendar as it stands today, November 7, 2026:

• Week of November 7: 4,155 workers
• Week of November 14: 8,510 workers — the heaviest week on the calendar
• Week of November 21: 6,925 workers
• Week of November 28: 6,063 workers
• Week of December 5: 1,036 workers — the lightest week on the calendar
• Week of December 12: 3,755 workers — the newest week on the calendar

The six-week total is 30,444 workers. November carries most of it: the four November weeks add up to 25,653 workers, about 84 percent of the total. The two December weeks so far add up to 4,791 workers, just under 16 percent. That split is normal for this point in the cycle. December's numbers are still filling in, while November's are nearly complete.

What the December 12 week looks like

At 3,755 workers, the December 12 week is more than three and a half times the size of the December 5 week (1,036 workers). It is also less than half the size of the November 14 peak (8,510 workers). In other words, it sits in the middle of the range: not a quiet week, not a heavy one.

That middle position is worth noting because the December 12 figure will almost certainly grow. New WARN notices keep arriving, and each one can add workers to a future effective date. The December 5 week, for example, was 846 workers when it was first previewed on October 31; it now stands at 1,036. The December 12 week is at the start of that same process, so 3,755 should be read as a floor, not a final number.

Why the calendar extends a week at a time

The WARN Act requires most large employers to give 60 days' notice before a mass layoff or plant closing. That rule shapes the calendar directly. A layoff effective in the week of December 12 would normally have been noticed around mid-October, so the filings behind this week's number are already weeks old. As more notices from that period are published by state agencies and added to the registry, the December 12 total will rise.

The national picture behind the week

The registry currently holds 676 WARN notices covering 64,282 reported workers over the last 90 days, with 28 notices carrying no worker count. The data was last updated on November 6, 2026.

Two states dominate the national total. California accounts for 20,812 reported workers and Washington for 17,411 — together 38,223 workers, or about 59 percent of the national total. Illinois (3,548), Texas (2,750), and Virginia (2,546) round out the top five, which together hold about 73 percent of all reported workers.

That concentration is a reminder that the national calendar is driven by a small number of states. When California or Washington files a large notice, the whole six-week picture moves. The December 12 week is no exception: its eventual size will depend heavily on what those two states publish in the coming days.

How to read this week's number

Three cautions apply to the December 12 figure, as they do to every number on the registry.

First, these are reported plans, not confirmed job losses. A WARN notice is an employer's advance statement of intent. Some planned layoffs shrink, some are postponed, and a few are cancelled outright before the effective date.

Second, 28 notices in the current 90-day window carry no worker count at all. Their workers are missing from every total in this article, including the 3,755 figure for December 12. The real number for that week is higher than the published one by an unknown amount.

Third, coverage varies by state. Some states publish WARN notices promptly and completely; others publish late or not at all. A quiet week on the calendar can mean a quiet week for layoffs, or it can mean a slow week for state publication. The registry is a window into layoff activity, not a census of it.

What to watch next

The question for the December 12 week is whether it grows toward the November pattern or stays a mid-size week. If large filings land in California or Washington in the next few days, the total could climb quickly. If the flow of new notices stays slow, the week will likely settle somewhere near its current level — well below the November 14 peak, but well above the December 5 low.

Either way, the calendar will keep extending. The week of December 19 should appear within days, and with it a first look at how the year ends for workers facing layoffs. For now, December 12 stands at 3,755 workers — the newest week on the board, and a reminder that the fall layoff wave is not over yet.

Data source: Layoff Atlas.