Layoff Support for Businesses & Employees

Rapid Response
Layoff Assistance & Job Preservation

When businesses and workers face unexpected challenges, Rapid Response steps in as a critical support system, helping to turn uncertainty into opportunity. Delivered through WorkSource Oregon, this free program provides immediate assistance to employers and employees, offering solutions to manage layoffs, prevent job loss, and support career transitions.

Whether it’s layoff aversion strategies, reemployment assistance, or connections to vital community resources, Rapid Response helps keep Oregon’s workforce strong.

How It Works:

For Employers: Access layoff prevention strategies like the Work Share program, which allows businesses to reduce employee hours while maintaining jobs.

For Workers: Connect with career counseling, training opportunities, unemployment benefits, and other essential resources to help you land your next job.

Why It Matters

Funded at the federal level and established under the Workforce Investment Act of 1998, Rapid Response ensures no business or worker has to navigate workforce changes alone. It’s more than just assistance—it’s a pathway to stability, resilience, and future success.

If you or your business is facing layoffs, seek out Rapid Response support today.

Click here to learn more about Rapid Response resources

Oregon Employment Department
Work Share

The Work Share program provides an alternative for employers and workers who may be facing a layoff situation. Work Share allows employers to reduce work hours for their employees by providing partial unemployment insurance benefits that supplement workers’ reduced wages.

Employers must apply for the program by completing an application and sending a work plan to the Oregon Employment Department. Employees cannot apply directly for Work Share.

The employer must select three or more employees with reduced work hours to participate in the Work Share program. Employers must state that these work hours and wages will be cut by at least 10%, but no more than 50% per week, and confirm normal work week hours are 40 hours or less.

Basic Requirements: