What Happens to the Employers Involved in Mass Layoffs?

All views expressed in this paper are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views or policies of the U.S. We apply the empirical framework of the displaced worker literature to the study of outcomes for displacing employers. Long-term patterns of employment, wages, and closure probabilities before and after mass layoffs vary by the complexity, age, and industry of employers, reason for the layoff, and the period in which the layoff took place. Employers with mass layoffs during the Great Recession and the recovery that has followed have different patterns of employment, wages, and closure probabilities than employers with layoffs in previous periods. However, differences in employment and wage patterns are explained by changing observable characteristics of employers and layoffs.