Wolfspeed, a NASCAR team and two delivery giants: NC’s 5 biggest layoffs of 2024

Alongside job creation headlines, North Carolina experienced dozens of mass layoffs and facility closures in 2024.

Employers this year filed 76 Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification (WARN) notices affecting more than 8,000 positions statewide. Some of these represented minor cuts, impacting as few as two jobs, while others meant hundreds of people would need to find work elsewhere.

Companies must file WARN reports to the North Carolina Department of Commerce at least 60 days ahead of certain major cuts. The state then deploys a rapid response team to assist workers on finding new opportunities.

Not all layoffs require WARN notices, however, including one of the year’s largest staff reductions at a semiconductor manufacturer in Durham. Two other North Carolina-based employer acknowledged companywide reductions while declining to share how many jobs were specifically lost in the state.

Here are the five biggest layoff announcements in North Carolina in 2024, according to WARN notices and additional reporting, along with two more prominent layoffs of unknown size.

UPS, 490 jobs

Throughout 2024, UPS alerted state officials it would shutter three North Carolina locations. The largest closure affected 371 workers in North Raleigh while the company also shut sites in Charlotte (82 jobs) and Greensboro (37 jobs).

In its WARN notices, UPS attributed these cuts to “volume loss in our network.”

UPS is the second-largest package deliverer in the United States. Last January, the company said it would reduce its overall workforce by around 12,000 jobs in 2024. In addition to seeing lower demand since the pandemic, UPS has also invested in artificial intelligence, which has proven capable of replacing some human labor at the company.

Wolfspeed, 350-450 jobs

In November, the struggling Durham semiconductor manufacturer Wolfspeed said it would lay off around 10% of its global workforce. While the company didn’t file a WARN notice disclosing an exact number of eliminated positions, previous financial records signal that a reduction of this size was likely to affect close to 500 employees, most of whom were based in North Carolina.

Production delays and slower demand for its silicon carbide chips hampered Wolfspeed’s financial sheet in 2024, sparking liquidity concerns and an ongoing stock nosedive. The layoffs followed an additional 10% headcount reduction at the company this year through voluntary buyouts and natural attrition.

The move comes as Wolfspeed undergoes multiple transitions. The company is phasing out a facility at its main campus near Research Triangle Park that makes 150-millimeter wafers that can be sliced into chips, as it puts more resources towards producing larger 200-millimeter wafers. Wolfspeed also shook up its leadership, firing CEO Gregg Lowe shortly after the layoff announcement.

“We are taking steps to simplify the business and capitalize on the transition to 200mm,” company spokesperson Kris Camacho said in November. “This includes changes to our workforce, which is not a move we take lightly.”

FedEx, 410 jobs

Earlier this month, Federal Express notified the state commerce department it would lay off a few hundred Triangle-based employees, most deliverers in Durham and Raleigh. FedEx plans to permanently close a shipping center on Englert Drive in South Durham, affecting 123 positions, while eliminating 218 jobs at its Atlantic Avenue shipping center in North Raleigh.

These layoffs will become official on Feb. 3. In WARN notices, FedEx said it was reducing its area workforce “due to a business reorganization.”

This wasn’t FedEx’s only announced layoff in North Carolina during 2024. In June, the company announced it would close a shipping center in Conover, about an hour’s drive north of Charlotte, impacting 69 jobs.

Stewart-Hass Racing, 323 jobs

A major NASCAR shakeup affected hundreds of jobs north of Charlotte when Stewart-Haas Racing, a two-time Cup Series championship team, shut down after this past season.

Stewart-Haas Racing had two owners, Gene Haas and Hall of Fame driver Tony Stewart. Haas purchased Stewart’s partnership interest in the Kannapolis-based entity and will operate a new racing team with a reduced headcount of between 90 and 100 employees.

“Some current employees may remain with the newly named company,” Stewart-Haas Racing told the state in May.

GKN Driveline North America, 247 jobs

After three decades, a manufacturing mainstay closed in a rural community north of Durham and Orange counties.

GKN Driveline opened its automotive technology plant around the unincorporated town of Timberlake in 1994. Following a pair of expansions, GKN had become the largest private employer in Person County.

Its loss will be profoundly felt. Gordon Powell, chair of the Person County commissioners, called the company “a very integral and important corporate citizen.”

“(Their workers) work here. They live here. They own homes here,” he said.

In 2018, the London-based aerospace manufacturer Melrose Industries acquired the parent of GKN in a hostile takeover. Melrose is known for buying engineering companies and then divesting portions of them, which has led critics to label the firm as an “asset stripper.”

Since then, GKN Driveline North America has also shuttered a plant in the Lee County city of Sanford.

Albemarle, unknown NC layoffs

Albemarle Corp., the world’s largest lithium miner, told investors this fall it would eliminate up to 7% of its global workforce, impacting 15% of non-manufacturing jobs. The company has declined to share how many of these jobs are based in North Carolina, where Albemarle is headquartered.

Heading into this year, the company had around 9,000 employees worldwide, including 3,700 in the Americas. Based in Charlotte, Albemarle took this cost-saving step following a $1 billion loss amid slumping lithium prices.

Cisco, unknown NC layoffs

In February, the tech company Cisco announced it would lay off roughly 5% of its large, 80,000-person global workforce. Then in August, Cisco said it would cut another 7% of staff as it restructured to prioritize artificial intelligence and cybersecurity.

Company spokespeople declined to share how many jobs in North Carolina would be impacted by these moves.

The company opened its Research Triangle Park office in 1995, and has grown into a significant local tech presence. Its local workforce is in the thousands, and the state lists the California-based Cisco as the fourth-largest employer in Durham County.

Rest of the Top 10

• Jacobs Technology Inc., 240 jobs at Fort Liberty
• Winn Management Group, 233 jobs in Havelock and at Camp Lejeune
• Aramark Healthcare Support Services LLC, 233 jobs in Fayetteville
• Stanley Black & Decker, Inc., 224 jobs in Concord
• Delta Apparel, 224 jobs in Fayetteville, Concord, Rowland

This story was originally published December 27, 2024 at 9:32 AM with the headline "Wolfspeed, a NASCAR team and two delivery giants: NC’s 5 biggest layoffs of 2024."

Brian Gordon

The News & Observer

919-861-1238

Brian Gordon is the Business & Technology reporter for The News & Observer and The Herald-Sun. He writes about jobs, startups and big tech developments unique to the North Carolina Triangle. Brian previously worked as a senior statewide reporter for the USA Today Network. Please contact him via email, phone, or Signal at 919-861-1238.