Thousands of Houston-area employees have lost their jobs due to the coronavirus pandemic.

According to data from the Texas Workforce Commission, more than 268,000 residents in the Gulf Coast region—which includes the Greater Houston area—have filed for unemployment insurance between April 1 and May 2.

Some Greater Houston-area companies have reported their layoffs to the TWC via Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notifications. Under the WARN Act, companies must provide 60-day advance notice of a plant closure or mass layoffs under certain circumstances, according to the TWC.

According to the WARNs, more than 23,000 employees in the Gulf Coast region will have lost their job between Jan. 7 and June 29. Last year, the region had a total of 3,407 layoffs.
Out of the 78 companies that reported their 2020 Gulf Coast-area layoffs to the TWC, three reported more than 1,000 layoffs.

Eateries and companies associated with Pappas Restaurants—such as Pappadeux Seafood Kitchen, Pappas Bar-B-Q and Dot Coffee Shop—reported 6,348 total layoffs in March and April. In total, 63 Pappas Restaurant locations, distribution centers and offices reported 17-180 employee layoffs across Houston, Humble, Sugar Land, Conroe, Shenandoah and Webster.


Halliburton Energy, meanwhile, reported 4,510 employee layoffs in the Greater Houston area, and Hooters’ Greater Houston-area locations notified 1,037 employees they no longer had a job, according to WARN data.

Here are the 10 companies with the highest number of layoffs in the Gulf Coast region. Six are in the restaurant industry, two are in health care, one provides entertainment and another is within the energy industry.
  • Pappas Restaurants: 6,348
  • Halliburton Energy: 4,510
  • Hooters: 1,037
  • Outback Steakhouse: 660
  • Carrabba's Italian Grill: 571
  • Kindred Hospital: 444
  • Cinemark Theaters: 434
  • Willie's Grill & Icehouse: 400
  • AmerisourceBergen-PharMedium Healthcare: 365
  • OTG Management: 353
Of the 23,197 WARN layoffs reported in the Gulf Coast region ,76.2% of them were within Harris County, followed by 15.4% in Fort Bend County.

More than 16,000 layoffs were in Houston, according to the WARN data. Within the Greater Houston area suburbs, Katy had 979 layoffs, Webster had 694, Sugar Land had 648 and Humble had 550.

Across the state of Texas, the Gulf Coast region accounts for 35.8% of unemployment in 2020.