Pennsylvania saw thousands of workers lose their jobs in 2025 as dozens of companies submitted Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notifications to the Pennsylvania Department of Labor & Industry this year, informing the state of large layoffs.
The closing of Crozer Health resulted in 2,651 people being laid off.
The collapse of Rite Aid led to more than 1,000 corporate employees being laid off. The number of Rite Aid employees laid off was much higher, considering the company closed more than 300 stores in the state in 2025. Workplaces with fewer than 50 employees aren’t required to notify the state.
The federal WARN Act offers protection to workers, their families, and communities by requiring employers to provide a 60-day notice of mass layoffs or business closings involving a large number of layoffs. Enforcement of the WARN Act falls under the U.S. Department of Labor.
Typically, an employer must submit a notice to the state if it will shut down a plant and the shutdown will result in a job loss for 50 or more employees during any 30-day period. Employers also must give notice if they plan to lay off 500 or more employees in a 30-day period or if they will be laying off at least 50 people and those people represent at least 33 percent of their active workforce.
Please note that some of the layoffs listed below have not happened yet, but the WARN notices were filed earlier this year. While most WARN notices are permanent, there are times when they are temporary and times when the affected employees are hired immediately by another company taking over a contract.
All of the employers below announced layoffs of at least 250 people in Pennsylvania in 2025:
SPS Technologies – 251
Located at: 301 Highland Ave., Abington Township, Montgomery County, near Jenkintown
The manufacturing company, which produces fasteners and other materials for the aviation industry, laid off 251 people after a fire broke out at its plant earlier this year.
“This layoff is a result of the unforeseeable business circumstances and economic downturn caused by the fire at our facility on February 17, 2025,” the company said in the WARN notice.
Fourth Street Barbecue – 252
Located at: 3 Arentzen Blvd., Speers, Washington County, near Charleroi
The company laid off 252 people.
Spark Therapeutics – 298
Located at:
- 2929 Arch St., Philadelphia
- 3025 Market St., Philadelphia
- 3737 Market St., Philadelphia
The biotechnology research company laid off 298 employees at the three locations in Philadelphia. In addition, some remote employees were laid off as well.
Instant Web – 298
Located at: 100 Industrial Drive, Tilden Township, Berks County, near Hamburg
Instant Web, doing business as IWCO laid off 298 people due to a closing. The company is based in Minnesota and provides advertising services.
Corelle Brands – 323
Located at: 12000 Molly Pitcher Highway, Antrim Township, near Greencastle, Franklin County
Glassware and dishware company Corelle Brands, formerly known as Instant Brands, laid off 323 people due to a closing.
Corelle’s brands include Instant, Corelle, Pyrex, Corningware, Snapware and Chicago Cutlery.
Wilson Creek Energy – 332
Located at:
- 1182 Pine Road, Brothersvalley Township, Somerset County, near Berlin
- 206 Coal Road, Stonycreek Township, Somerset County, near Berlin
- 340 Horse Track Road, Stonycreek Township, Somerset County, near Berlin
- 398 Cambria Road, Stonycreek Township, Somerset County, near Berlin
- 688 Cook Road, Shade Township, Somerset County, near Central City
- 1576 Stoystown Road, Somerset Township, Somerset County, near Friedens
- 479 San Rock Road, Stonycreek Township, Somerset County, near Friedens
- 2491 Stutzmantown Road, Somerset Township, Somerset County, near Somerset
- 6375 Penn Ave., Jenner Township, Somerset County, near Somerset
- 619 Rhoads Road, Jenner Township, Somerset County, near Stoystown.
- 865 Durst Road, Grantsville, Maryland
Wilson Creek Energy/Corsa Coal filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in January and laid off 332 people at the 11 locations in March.
The company produces metallurgical coal.
Comprehensive Logistics – 365
Located at: 609 Memory Lane, Springettsbury Township, York County
The company laid off 365 people in September at the location.
IG Design Group Americas – 383
Located at:
- Third and Oak Streets, Building 426/93 in Berwick, Columbia County (Warehouse)
- Ninth Street and Bomboy Lane at Salem Township, Luzerne County (Main plant)
- 2015 West Front St. at Briar Creek, Columbia County (Administrative)
IG Design Group Americas closed three facilities and laid off 383 people on Aug. 26.
Design Group Americas designs, manufactures, sources and distributes a variety of products in the seasonal, stationery, gift, craft and toy categories. The Berwick-area plant manufactured bows and ribbons as well as materials used in the floral industry. The company said at the time that it was selling its business segments while winding down its manufactured woven ribbon products business.
“Like many companies in the consumer products sector, DGA has been navigating a challenging operating landscape for several years, compounded by the loss of a major customer, who entered liquidation and significantly impacted DGA’s revenue as well as new trade tariffs imposed in 2025 that increased operational costs, affected pricing strategies, and contributed to reduced customer orders,” the company said in a news release. “The Company’s decision to pursue an in-court process was driven by liquidity constraints, substantial working capital requirements, and the seasonal nature of significant portions of its business.”
The “major customer” that entered into liquidation was JoAnn, according to the retail industry publication, RetailDive.
Amazon – 432
Located at: 17 William Drive, Findlay Township, Allegheny County, near Imperial
Amazon laid off 432 people — 273 regular associates and 159 seasonal associates whose temporary assignments were ending — due to a planned renovation project at the facility. The layoffs took place on March 12. The company said employees who accepted internal transfer opportunities at Amazon prior to March 12 would not be laid off.
Oak View Group – 522
Located at: 150 Rouse Boulevard, Philadelphia
The company’s contract at Citizens Bank Park for the Philadelphia Phillies will end on Dec. 31, 2025.
The company provides housekeeping and general maintenance operations for the Philadelphia Phillies at Citizens Bank Park.
The company told state officials its contract wasn’t renewed. The Oak View Group told the state it has 522 employees, of which 500 are part-time and are under a collective bargaining agreement.
Oak View Group services multiple venues in the Philadelphia area and officials said it welcomed employees to apply for other positions in the region.
Cleveland-Cliffs – 664
Located at:
- 215 South Front St., Steelton
- 900 Conshohocken Road, Plymouth Township, Montgomery County, near Conshohocken
The company closed both steel plants.
Cleveland-Cliffs laid off 68 salaried employees and 491 bargaining unit workers at the Steelton plant.
The 151-year-old Steelton plant produced rails that carry freight and passengers, along with steel for heavy machinery, power generation plants and military applications such as submarines.
“Weak demand and insufficient pricing for the products produced at our Steelton steelmaking facility has led Cleveland-Cliffs to conclude that this facility is not economically viable in the current market conditions,” the company said in a WARN notice.
The company laid off 10 salaried employees and 97 bargaining unit workers at its plate finishing plant in Montgomery County.
Located at: 4255 E. Independence Drive in North Whitehall Township, Lehigh County, near Schnecksville
Food wholesaler United Natural Foods closed the distribution center and laid off 717 people. Among the employees were 172 truck drivers.
The distribution center closure is due to UNFI ending its agreement to provide services for Key Food.
Rhode Island-based UNFI provided the following statement at the time to PennLive:
“Recently, UNFI and Key Food mutually agreed to transition Key Food’s conventional grocery products business in the Northeast to another wholesaler. We believe this transition will be a better fit for Key Food and allows UNFI to exit an unprofitable relationship.
At UNFI, we are continuously evaluating our distribution network to ensure we are serving our customers and suppliers as efficiently and effectively as possible. As part of these efforts, we will be ending operations at our Allentown distribution center in July 2025 and will transition these customers and suppliers to nearby distribution centers in our network. Moving Allentown’s volume to nearby DCs will enable us to serve our local partners in an efficient and sustainable way going forward.”
Crothall and Morrison Healthcare
Located at: 3400 Spruce St., Philadelphia (Penn Medicine)
Crothall and Morrison Healthcare is laying off 795 people. The layoffs were announced in 2025 but won’t take place until Feb. 1, 2026.
Located at:
- 200 Newberry Commons, Newberry Township, York County
- 1200 Intrepid Avenue, Suite 2, Philadelphia
The drugstore chain filed for bankruptcy a second time in May and went out of business in September.
The company laid off 501 people who worked at or reported to the Valley Green Office Facility at 200 Newberry Commons.
The drugstore chain also laid off 595 people who reported to the company’s headquarters at 1200 Intrepid Ave.
Rite Aid said the following in the WARN notices:
“Rite Aid only recently received notice from a significant vendor shortening and restricting payment terms, which could cause Rite Aid’s loan to our lenders to be accelerated,” the company said in the WARN notice. “Rite Aid’s lenders have informed us that they will not provide future funding for Rite Aid to cover payroll and employment related expenses if we retain the entirety of our current workforce.”
“As a result, we have no choice but to conduct employee separations at this time to enable us to continue to meet anticipated future payroll and employment related expenses.”
“In addition, the dramatic downturn in the economy, potential litigation, and increased costs (including tariffs) from our suppliers and landlords have necessitated employee separations that were unforeseen, as we were actively seeking funding and pursuing several alternative strategic transactions with the hope that this action could be avoided or postponed.”
- 1,908 employees at the Crozer-Chester Medical Center, at 1 Medical Center Drive, Upland, Delaware County
- 45 employees at the Crozer-Chester Medical Center Behavioral Health Unit at 1 Medical Center Drive, Upland, Delaware County
- 88 employees at the Crozer Health Corporate Offices, located 1 Medical Center Drive, Upland, Delaware County
- 126 employees at the Crozer-Springfield Hospital at 190 W. Sproul Road, Springfield Township, Delaware County
- 53 employees at the Crozer Springfield Hospital Offices, at 190 W. Sproul Road, Springfield Township, Delaware County
- 351 employees at the Crozer-Taylor Hospital at 175 E. Chester Pike, Ridley Park, Delaware County.
- 34 employees at the Crozer-West 15th Street Offices, located at 301 W. 15th St., Chester, Delaware County
- 46 employees at the Crozer-West 15th Street Offices BHU, located at 301 W. 15th St., Building B, Ground Floor, Chester, Delaware County
In what was one of the largest layoffs in recent years in the Keystone State, the hospital system closed multiple locations in Pennsylvania and 2,621 people were laid off.
At least one county, two cities and a township issued emergency declarations following the hospital closing.
Prospect Medical Holdings filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in January in the United States Bankruptcy Court for the Northern District of Texas. Initially, a buyer agreed to purchase the operations, but later backed out of the deal. Prospect then reached an agreement with the state to appoint a receiver to take over the strategic decision-making and finances of Prospect for the Pennsylvania facilities from Feb. 5 to March 5. The agreement was later extended to April 18.
On April 9, Prospect said it received an offer from the University of Pennsylvania Health System, which intended to provide $5 million in funding, the majority of which would be a donation to Prospect, to allow for a further extension of time to reach an agreement on a purchase of the Pennsylvania facilities. On April 17, Prospect said it was informed that the donation would no longer be available to allow for the extension.
With no buyer and no additional funding, Prospect said it was forced to close operations and permanently lay off all employees at its facilities in Chester and Delaware counties.
The closings took place in April.
At the time, Chester Mayor Stefan Roots had signed an emergency declaration for the city in response to the Prospect’s closing announcement.
“City Council and I are devastated by this crisis, and we are taking every possible step to address the negative impact this closure will have on the City of Chester and its residents,” Roots said. “We are actively working with the receiver and his team to identify viable solutions that will ensure our residents continue to have access to prompt emergency medical services, which will be impacted by Prospect’s irresponsible actions.”