Displaced workers are defined as persons 20 years of age and older who lost or left jobs because their plant or company closed or moved, there was insufficient work for them to do, or their position or shift was abolished. The period covered in this study was 2005-07, the 3 calendar years prior to the January 2008 survey date. The following analysis focuses primarily on the 3.6 million persons who had worked for their employer for 3 or more years at the time of displacement (referred to as long-tenured). An additional 4.6 million persons were displaced from jobs they had held for less than 3 years (referred to as short-tenured). Combining the short- and long-tenured groups, the number of displaced workers totaled 8.3 million from 2005-07, about unchanged from the period covered by the prior survey (2003-05).
Results from the January 2008 survey included the following highlights:
-Two-thirds of long-tenured displaced workers were reemployed at the time of the survey, down from the prior survey.
-About 45 percent of long-tenured displaced workers cited plant or company closings or moves as the reason for their displacement.
-Forty-three percent of displaced workers who had worked for their employer for 3 or more years had received written advance notifica tion that their jobs would be terminated.
-Nearly 1 in 4 long-tenured displaced workers lost a job in manufacturing.
-Fifty-five percent of long-tenured workers who were displaced from full-time wage and salary jobs and who were reemployed in such jobs had earnings that were as much or more than those on the lost job. One-quarter, however, experienced earnings losses of 20 percent or more.
Characteristics of the Reemployed
Sixty-seven percent of the 3.6 million long-tenured displaced workers were reemployed when surveyed in January 2008, down from the proportion in the January 2006 survey-70 percent. The proportion unemployed at the time of the most recent survey, 18 percent, was higher than the proportion found in January 2006 (13 percent). Fifteen percent of long-tenured displaced workers were not in the labor force in January 2008.
Reemployment rates for workers ages 20 to 24 and 25 to 54 were 68 and 73 percent, respectively. Reemployment rates for older workers-ages 55 to 64 and 65 years and over--were 61 and 18 percent, respectively. Among those age 65 years and over, 69 percent were no longer in the labor force when surveyed.
Among the displaced, men were more likely than women to have found a new job at the time of the survey in January 2008. The reemployment rate for men (70 percent) declined from the prior survey and the rate for women (64 percent) was little changed. However, displaced men and women had a similar likelihood of being unemployed; 19 and 17 percent, respectively. The share of displaced women who had left the labor force, about 20 percent, was nearly twice that for men-11 percent.
In January 2008, the reemployment rates for long-tenured displaced whites (68 percent) and Asians (67 percent) were little changed from the rates recorded in the January 2006 survey, while the rate for blacks (59 percent) declined. The reemployment rate for Hispanics edged up to 68 percent in January 2008.
Reason for Job Loss and Receipt of Advance Notice
Of the 3.6 million long-tenured workers displaced during the January 2005 through December 2007 period, 45 percent lost or left their jobs due to plant or company closings or moves, 31 percent reported that their position or shift was abolished, and 24 percent cited insufficient work as the reason for being displaced. The proportion of displaced workers citing plant closings or moves decreased from the prior survey and the share reporting insufficient work or an abolished shift or position was about unchanged.
More than 4 in 10 long-tenured displaced workers in the January 2008 survey had received written advance notice that their jobs would be terminated, similar to the proportion in the prior survey. Workers who lost jobs due to plant or company closings or moves were most likely to receive written advance notice. Of this group, 54 percent received such notice. In contrast, 39 percent of workers who were displaced because their position or shift was abolished and 29 percent of those who lost jobs due to insufficient work were notified in advance. For each of these groups, however, receipt of written advance notice had little impact on the likelihood of being reemployed at the time of the survey in January 2008.
Industry and Occupation
As was the case in prior surveys, manufacturing accounted for a disproportion- ately large share of displaced workers. During the 2005-07 period, 876,000 factory workers were displaced from their jobs--24 percent of all long-tenured displaced workers. Manufacturing displacements were again concentrated within the durable goods component (566,000), particularly in transportation equipment and in computers and electronic products. Workers in financial activities (387,000) made up about 11 percent of all long-tenured displaced.
The reemployment rates for workers displaced from construction (65 percent),financial activities (65 percent), and manufacturing (64 percent) were about the same as the overall reemployment rate for displaced workers (67 percent). (Workers were not necessarily reemployed in the same industries from which they were displaced.) By comparison, reemployment rates for workers displaced from jobs in education and health services (75 percent), professional and business services (74 percent), and transportation and utilities (73 percent) were above the overall reemployment rate.
In the January 2008 survey, workers displaced from managerial, professional, and related occupations accounted for 32 percent of all long-tenured displaced workers. Sales and office occupations comprised about 27 percent of the long-tenured worker displacements. Workers in production, transportation, and material moving jobs made up about one-fifth of the long-tenured displaced.
Geographic Divisions
Compared to the prior survey period, the number of long-tenured workers displaced during 2005-07 was lower in the East South Central and higher in the Middle Atlantic geographic divisions of the United States. In January 2008, those residing in the Mountain and New England divisions had the highest reemployment rates; about three-quarters of the displaced in each of these divisions were reemployed at the time ofthe survey. About one-quarter of displaced manufacturing workers lived in the East North Central division.
Earnings
Of the 2.2 million reemployed displaced workers who lost full-time wage and salary jobs during the 2005-07 period, 1.7 million had found new full-time wage and salary jobs by January 2008. Of these reemployed full-time workers who reported earnings on their lost job, 55 percent were earning as much or more than they did prior to displacement; the proportion was 51 percent in the January 2006 survey. In the most recent survey, 25 percent reported earnings losses of 20 percent or more, down from 29 percent in the previous survey.
Total Displaced Workers (With No Tenure Restriction)
The total number of workers displaced between January 2005 and December 2007 (regardless of how long they had held their jobs) was 8.3 million, little different from the total number in the previous survey period. Of the total number of workers who lost jobs over the 2005-07 period, 67 percent had found new jobs and 19 percent were unemployed in January 2008. In the January 2006 survey, 68 percent of the total displaced were reemployed and 16 percent were unemployed.
In January 2008, short-tenured displaced workers were somewhat more likely than their long-tenured counterparts to be young and to have lost jobs in construction and in professional and business services.
