Hy Cite Enterprises Files 78-Worker Layoff Notice in Middleton, Wisconsin

Hy Cite Enterprises has filed a WARN notice covering 78 workers at its Middleton, Wisconsin site, according to the Wisconsin Department of Workforce Development (DWD). The notice is dated November 5, 2026, making it the newest official filing in Wisconsin's registry — and it carries an unusual detail: the notice date and the effective date are the same day.

The filing at a glance

• Employer: Hy Cite Enterprises
• Location: Middleton, Wisconsin
• Workers affected: 78
• Type: Layoff
• Notice date: November 5, 2026
• Effective date: November 5, 2026
• Source: Wisconsin Department of Workforce Development

The filing sits at the top of Wisconsin's notice list, ahead of the state's other recent filings: M.M.D. in Kenosha (148 workers, notice October 29, effective December 31), Assist to Transport / Student Transportation of America in Manitowoc (39 workers, notice October 30, effective December 31), and Family Endeavors (4 workers, notice October 30, effective December 31). Hy Cite is the only new Wisconsin filing with a November notice date so far, and its 78 workers make it the largest Wisconsin filing of the month to date.

Why the same-day dates stand out

The federal WARN Act generally requires covered employers — those with 100 or more full-time workers — to give 60 days' advance written notice before a mass layoff or plant closing. Wisconsin's own mini-WARN law, Wis. Stat. section 109.07, sets a similar 60-day standard and applies at a lower threshold, covering employers with 50 or more workers when 25 or more employees are affected by a closing or mass layoff.

A public record that lists the notice date and the effective date as the same day is therefore worth a closer look. It does not by itself prove that workers received no advance warning: the dates in the registry reflect when the notice was recorded with the state and when the layoffs take effect in the filing, and the actual notice letter workers received may tell a fuller story. But the gap between a same-day filing and the 60-day standard is exactly the kind of detail that workers, their representatives, and the state agency will want to check.

If an employer that was required to give 60 days' notice in fact gave less, the WARN Act gives affected workers a private right to sue for back pay and benefits for each day of the shortfall, up to 60 days. Wisconsin's law carries its own penalties. Workers who believe their notice was short should keep the notice letter and any related communications, and note the date they actually received them — that date, not the registry date, is what matters in a claim.

Wisconsin in 2026

Wisconsin has recorded 58 WARN notices covering 4,519 workers so far in 2026, out of an archive of 613 non-cancelled notices reporting 60,520 workers. Over the last 365 days, the state has logged 56 official filings covering 4,505 workers, with no worker counts unavailable in that window. Nine Wisconsin notices still have future effective dates, so more layoffs already on the books have yet to take effect.

For comparison, 2025 brought 62 Wisconsin notices covering 4,791 workers. The 2026 pace is running close to last year's — this filing is notable for its timing, not for pushing the state total to an extreme.

The national picture

Nationally, the registry tracked 676 notices covering 64,352 reported workers over the last 90 days, with 28 notices carrying unavailable worker counts, as of the November 6 update. California still dominates the state ranking with 20,812 reported workers, followed by Washington at 17,411, Illinois at 3,548, Texas at 2,750, and Virginia at 2,526.

The six weeks ahead hold 29,797 workers in scheduled layoffs: 2,847 in the week of November 6, a peak of 8,850 in the week of November 13, 7,181 in the week of November 20, 5,991 in the week of November 27, 1,897 in the week of December 4, and 3,031 in the week of December 11. The Hy Cite filing, effective immediately, sits outside that forward-looking calendar — its workers' effective date has already arrived.

What affected workers can do now

If you are one of the 78 workers covered by this filing, a few steps are worth taking right away. Keep the written notice and every letter, email, or message from the employer about the layoff, including the date you received each one. File for unemployment benefits with the Wisconsin Department of Workforce Development as soon as you are eligible; do not wait for a severance decision. Check what happens to your health coverage and whether COBRA continuation is available, and compare it with marketplace plans before any deadline passes. Review any severance offer carefully before signing, and note whether it asks you to give up legal claims in exchange for the payment. Wisconsin's Rapid Response program can connect affected workers with retraining and job-search help, and your local workforce development board can point you to it.

These are reported plans, not confirmed job losses. Worker counts come from the employer's filing and can change if the filing is amended, and the registry itself notes that coverage varies by state and is not a census of all layoffs. The Hy Cite numbers here are what the company reported to the state; the state has not independently verified how many jobs will ultimately be lost.

Data source: Layoff Atlas.