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Over the past month, mass layoffs — particularly in the tech industry — have dominated the news. In particular, companies that experienced significant growth during COVID have been forced to scale back as the economy weakens.
Amazon plans to cut 10,000 jobs worldwide, Meta laid off 11,000 employees, and Twitter laid off nearly half of its workforce. Most recently, AMC Networks announced its plans to lay off 20% of its workforce after CEO Christina Spade stepped down from her position.
Faced with rising interest rates and high inflation, mass layoffs can quickly and efficiently cut costs, but many of these companies risk violating labor laws by engaging in mass layoffs.

What Is a Mass Layoff?
According to the Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification (WARN) Act, a mass layoff must meet at least one of the following criteria:- At least 50 employees are laid off during a 30-day period if the laid-off employees make up at least one-third of the workforce.
- 500 employees are laid off during a 30-day period if the laid-off employees make up at least one-third of the workforce.
- 500 employees are laid off during a 30-day period, regardless of how large the workforce is.
- An entire work site is closed down, and at least 50 employees are laid off during a 30-day period.