Laid off from Dow.
Dow announced 1,500 job cuts in January 2025 and called it a billion dollars of savings. A year later it put another 4,500 roles on the list, naming AI and automation as the lever. Chemical downturns run long, and this one is still running.
At a glance
What's known about Dow severance and layoffs
- About 1,500 roles, $1 billion savings target · January 2025 program
- $207 million, then $28 million more · Severance charged for that program
- About 800 roles, three upstream assets · July 2025 European shutdowns
- About 4,500 roles, $2 billion EBITDA target · January 2026 program
- $600 million to $800 million · Its severance range, per the 8-K
- AI and automation · Stated lever in the 2026 program
- June 2026, no site numbers released · Notifications began
- 3 all-time filings, none since 2025 began · In our WARN tracker
Recent Dow layoffs
Dow began notifying 4,500 affected workers in June 2026
Dow confirmed in June 2026 that it had begun notifying roughly 4,500 workers about the reductions announced under Transform to Outperform, the program its January 2026 8-K ties to $600 million to $800 million in severance and related benefit costs. Dow says it isn't releasing site-specific numbers, so what's on record about where the cuts fall comes from local reporting in Midland and southeast Texas.
Previous rounds
Dow layoff history
Dow has announced three separate workforce actions since the start of 2025, and they're not interchangeable if you're working out which one applies to you. The January 2025 program announced a reduction of about 1,500 roles worldwide against a $1 billion savings target. In July 2025 the company announced it would close three upstream European assets, affecting roughly 800 more roles on a timetable that runs into 2027. Then on January 29, 2026 it announced Transform to Outperform, approximately 4,500 roles globally against a target of at least $2 billion in near-term operating EBITDA, with notifications to affected workers starting that June.
The severance money sits in the filings. Dow's January 2025 8-K estimated $250 million to $325 million for severance and related benefits, and its 2025 10-K later recorded $207 million in the first quarter and another $28 million in the fourth. For the 2026 program the 8-K puts severance and related benefit costs at $600 million to $800 million across roughly 4,500 roles. Those are program totals in an accounting sense rather than offers, and they establish nothing about what any one person was handed. The timing is the part worth carrying. Across the full 2025 restructuring program Dow charged $389 million for severance and had paid $126 million of it by December 31, 2025, leaving a reserve of $263 million, so the payments stretch across years.
Where the cuts land is mostly not on record. Dow told KFDM in June 2026 that it wouldn't provide site-specific details and was focused on communicating directly with impacted employees, the position it also took in January 2025, when it declined to say how many of the 1,500 roles would come out of its Michigan operations. That leaves local reporting. The editor of the Midland Daily News put the Midland number at about 500 and said directly that it didn't come from Dow. A worker told KFDM that about 50 people at the Orange, Texas site were notified on June 10, an unverified employee account rather than a company count. The same reporting puts roughly 7,000 Dow employees and 4,500 contractors in Texas, its largest employment center at about 20 percent of the global workforce, with Michigan second at about 6,000 workers.
Our tracker holds 3 all-time filings matching Dow, and since the start of 2025 it holds 0 filings covering 0 jobs. That silence is worth reading correctly. The Labor Department's summary of federal WARN describes it as covering companies that employ at least 100 people, and as requiring written notice 60 calendar days in advance of a plant closing, or of a mass layoff in which 50 or more staff at one site of employment lose work. Those tests turn on what happens at a single location, so a reduction spread across many plants and offices can be large in total without every site meeting the description. The summary doesn't lay out every condition the statute attaches, so treat a quiet tracker as a fact about filings rather than a verdict on your own case. Supervisors and managers are counted the same as hourly and salaried staff, so a salaried cut isn't automatically beyond it.
If you're working out what you're owed, start with the documents you already have, because your separation agreement and any severance plan document govern what you receive and the ranges in Dow's filings don't. Where WARN applies, the notice also has to go to worker representatives, to the local chief elected official, and to the dislocated worker unit in your state, which is the office that can tell you whether anything was filed for your site. A number of states run plant closure laws of their own on top of the federal one. You can check what has been filed in your state against our WARN filings tracker, and if nothing shows up there for Dow, what that tells you is something about the filing and nothing about your own agreement.
Reporting on previous Dow layoff rounds
January 2026 · Approximately 4,500 roles globally under Transform to Outperform, targeting at least $2 billion of near-term operating EBITDA, with Dow naming AI and automation among the levers. Dow began notifying affected workers in June 2026 and said it wouldn't release site-specific details.
Dow's 8-K puts severance and related benefit costs at $600 million to $800 million, with cash outlays running primarily over about two years, plus $70 million to $90 million to implement the reduction. COO Karen Carter put severance at up to $800 million on the January 29, 2026 earnings call. No terms on record for individual packages.
July 2025 · About 800 roles affected by Dow's decision to close three upstream European assets, an ethylene cracker in Bohlen and chlor-alkali and vinyl units in Schkopau, both in Germany and both scheduled to shut by the fourth quarter of 2027, and a basics siloxanes plant in Barry, United Kingdom, scheduled for the middle of 2026.
Dow put the charges at $630 million to $790 million, covering exit and disposal of assets along with severance and related benefits, and cash outlay at about $500 million over four years. Because that range bundles assets with people, it isolates nothing for severance. No terms on record for individual packages.
January 2025 · Approximately 1,500 roles globally, board-approved as part of $1 billion in cost cuts. Dow didn't say how many would come from its Michigan operations, the same position it took a year later.
Dow's own 8-K estimated $250 million to $325 million for severance and related benefits, with cash paid primarily over the following two years. Its 10-K later recorded $207 million in the first quarter of 2025 and another $28 million in the fourth.
How Dow's layoffs compare to other companies
Three separate actions in the space of a year, a global cost program, a decision to close three European plants, and then a much larger reduction, is what a long chemical downturn looks like from the inside. Dow's filings carry numbers its press releases skip, which is why the 8-K is worth reading next to the announcement.
What to do after being laid off from Dow
- File for unemployment in the state where you worked. Benefits run from your filing date, and severance usually doesn't block you. Dow's biggest hubs: Michigan, Texas. Somewhere else? Every state is here.
- Apply for financial and hardship assistance. Unemployment supplements income, but food benefits, health coverage and utility help are often available as well. Here's some of what Dow's hub states run: Michigan, Texas, and every other state is here.
- Mind the health insurance window. Losing coverage opens a 60-day special enrollment period, and an ACA plan usually beats unsubsidized COBRA. Compare your options before the employer coverage lapses, and read how the COBRA clocks run if you are weighing it seriously.
- Get your real runway number. Severance plus savings divided by reality. The calculator takes five minutes.
- Know which clocks are already running. Severance review windows, COBRA election, visa grace periods, and 401(k) rollovers all run on federal deadlines that started at termination. All five deadlines are here.
Dow layoff and severance questions
What severance does Dow pay?
Dow doesn't publish individual terms, and there are no terms on record for any of its recent programs. What exists is program accounting. The January 2025 8-K estimated $250 million to $325 million for severance and related benefits covering about 1,500 roles, and the January 2026 8-K puts $600 million to $800 million against about 4,500 roles. Those are totals across whole programs, so dividing one by a headcount doesn't produce anyone's offer. Your own agreement controls what you get.
Why did Dow cut jobs twice in 2025?
The two 2025 actions were different in kind. January 2025 was a global reduction of about 1,500 roles against a $1 billion savings target, aimed at cost. July 2025 was an asset decision, three upstream European plants set to close in Germany and the United Kingdom on a timetable running into 2027, affecting about 800 more roles. The larger 4,500-role program came later, announced on January 29, 2026, so it belongs to 2026 rather than to either 2025 round.
Did Dow file a WARN notice for these layoffs?
Not in what we track. Our tracker holds 3 all-time filings matching Dow, and since the start of 2025 it holds 0 filings covering 0 jobs. The Labor Department's summary of the federal rule turns on one location, a plant closing or a mass layoff in which 50 or more staff at a single site lose work, for employers of at least 100 people. Cuts scattered across many plants and countries can be enormous in total without every site meeting that description. That summary doesn't lay out every condition the statute attaches, so an empty tracker is a fact about filings rather than a verdict on your case. The dislocated worker unit in your state can confirm whether a notice exists for your site, and a number of states set plant closure rules of their own.
How many Dow jobs are being cut in Michigan and Texas?
Dow hasn't said, and it told KFDM in June 2026 that it wouldn't give site-specific details. The circulating numbers come from local reporting. The editor of the Midland Daily News put Midland at about 500 jobs while stating plainly that Dow didn't provide that figure, and a worker told KFDM that about 50 people at the Orange, Texas site were notified on June 10, 2026, which is an unverified employee account. For scale, the same reporting puts about 7,000 Dow employees in Texas and about 6,000 in Michigan.
Where do I file for unemployment after being laid off from Dow?
In the state where you worked, not where the company is headquartered. Dow's biggest U.S. hubs are Michigan, Texas. Severance usually doesn't block you from filing, and benefits run from your filing date, so file the same week.
Is it OK to file for unemployment after a layoff at Dow?
Yes. Unemployment insurance is funded by payroll taxes employers pay on wages, the claim never appears on credit reports or background checks, and future employers cannot see it. If the hesitation itself is the obstacle, whether filing is OK has its own article.
What happens to my health insurance after a layoff at Dow?
Your plan sets the end date rather than the law, so the separation packet is where that date actually lives, and it is often the last day of the month rather than your last day of work. After coverage ends, COBRA lets you keep the identical plan by paying the whole premium yourself, up to 102 percent of what the plan really costs, which lands as several times the payroll deduction you were used to. You get 60 days to elect, counted from the later of coverage ending or the election notice arriving, and electing reaches the coverage back to the day the old plan stopped so no gap exists. How continuation coverage works walks the timing, and whether to take it rather than a marketplace plan is a separate decision.
Should I sign the severance agreement right away?
First pin down how much review time you actually have. If you're 40 or older, federal law gives you 21 days to consider an agreement that waives age claims, 45 in a group layoff, and a waiver signed under a shorter deadline can be invalid. If you're under 40, no federal window applies and the deadline in your packet may be real, so confirm it in writing and ask for more time if you need it. Use whatever window you have to read the release terms, especially non-disparagement and no-lawsuit clauses, and don't stall past a real deadline, because offers can be withdrawn.
Can I collect unemployment if I got severance from Dow?
Usually yes, though some states delay benefits until severance pay periods end, and lump sums are treated differently than salary continuation. Check your state's rules on our state benefit pages, and file immediately either way so your claim date is locked in.