The U.S. might not have as a robust a striking culture as some of its peers in the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), but by all indications, it’s catching up – and quickly.
Which industries have been hardest hit? Our new report reveals the industries most impacted by strikes from 2019 to 2025, as well as the ten biggest strikes of 2024. Cumulatively, these strikes led to a loss of $6.2 billion.
Source: Noggin. The full data set and striking companies analyzed can be found here.
The manufacturing sector suffered the heaviest losses from striking activity in 2024
Our data concludes that in 2024, the manufacturing industry, which includes aviation, experienced a total revenue loss of $2.8 billion from striking activity. That sum averages out to $75,000 in revenue lost per striking worker, of which there were 38,000.
Digging deeper into the figures, striking employees were idle for 1,316,000 days – more than in any other industry in 2024, losing approximately $298 million in wages in the process. Combining revenue loss with wage loss yields a total loss of $3.2 billion, which effectively reduced the industry's economic output by approximately 0.04% that year.
Information sector workers spent a total of 620,800 days idle in 2024
The information sector saw its share of striking activity, too, putting it at second on the list of sectors most impacted by strikes in the U.S. in 2024. Last year alone, the information industry lost $2 billion in revenue due to strikes. Wages lost among its 19,600 striking workers idled for 620,800 days equaled $253 million, leading to a total economic disruption of $2.3 billion.
The education sector incurred a total industry loss of $328.9 million
Meanwhile, strikes hit the education sector hard, as well, with that industry suffering a total estimated revenue loss of $147.4 million. A staggering 110,400 education employees spent 782,200 days striking, foregoing $181.5 million in wages and leading to a total economic disruption to the sector of $328.9 million.
Strikes affected most sectors in 2024
Strikes in the accommodation and food services sector affected a total of 16,400 workers who spent 236,200 days idle, losing $40.9 million in wages. The companies involved in striking activity lost an estimated $105 million in revenue, with the industry as a whole facing losses of $145.9 million.
For their part, strikes in the US maritime industry affected global supply chains, leading to an estimated loss of $78.8 million, factoring in revenue and wage loss. Following an historic year of strikes in 2023, healthcare and social assistance experienced another year replete with labor action. In 2024, 16,100 employees in that sector spent 159,000 days idle, with the sector experiencing a total economic disruption of $56 million.
The 10 most impactful strikes in the U.S. over the last five years
2024 was far from anomalous, as the nation has seen a recent upswing in costly striking activity. Indeed, the economic loss from the ten most impactful strikes in the last five years came in at an estimated $113.9 billion.
Source: Noggin. The full data set and striking companies analyzed can be found here.
The U.S. lost $113.8 billion to strike action over the last five years
The information sector, a broad grouping including media and news companies, professional guilds, video gaming, as well internet and mobile networks, suffered the single largest economic setback from recent striking activity. Seven point forty-six percent of the industry’s employees spent nearly 20 million days idle over the last five years, equaling $71.8 billion in losses from unpaid wages and revenue lost.
Four point seventy-two percent of the mining, quarrying, oil and gas workforce participated in strike action in the last five years, resulting in a loss of $27.5 billion.
Top tips for strike contingency planning
In close, it’s clear that strikes affect families, local businesses, supply chains, and more. If significant, strikes can even affect multiple industries over time as well as business stability. That instability can then lead to unwanted consequences such as lost revenue, lost reputation, and even bankruptcy.
What’s there to be done then? Well, for businesses threatened by strikes directly or indirectly (i.e., labor action at key partners), we finish the article by providing the following recommendations, such as developing a robust business continuity plan immediately to ensure continuity of essential business functions.
Further strategies include:
Make a long-term strike contingency plan
If a strike is imminent, it means communication between workers and employers has broken down. To avoid disruption and ensure continuity, employers should create forums for the concerns of employees to be heard. To prevent a strike, keep communication open and honest.
Strengthen communication
Often, despite either party’s best efforts, strikes do happen. To ensure continuity during the strike period, organizations should analyze the impact over time of the labor stoppage in a common business-continuity process called the Business Impact Analysis (BIA).
The BIA itself estimates the impacts of a disruption, such as a strike, over time to determine the organization’s response, recovery priorities, and resource requirements. Remember, there are three types of BIAs that organizations should consider: a product and service BIA, a process BIA, and an activity BIA. In the event of a potential strike, it might be worthwhile to conduct all three BIA types to generate greater levels of detail and understanding about the organization, covering the full scope of the business continuity management system (BCMS).
Analyze risk and potential outcomes
Business continuity professionals at the organization should then use risk assessment techniques to identify unacceptable risk and single points of failure that would be introduced by the strike. The results of this analysis should be presented to top management to provide direction for determining the precise strategies and solutions needed to ensure capabilities and meet business continuity requirements for guaranteeing critical business lines remain open and operational during any labor stoppage.
Methodology:
This data was analyzed by each calendar year from 2019 through to the end of 2024. Each calendar year was counted as a separate period to avoid duplication of numbers. To group strike data by broader economic sectors, the data is grouped by NAICS code (North American Industry Classification System) code to its first two digits. The key calculations to estimate both wage losses and revenue impact were as followed: Average Daily Wage was calculated by multiplying the average hourly wage by 8 (based on a standard 8-hour workday). Average Annual Wage was estimated using 250 working days per year. Average Employee Wage Lost was calculated by multiplying the average daily wage by the total days idle (due to strikes) divided by the number of industry employees. Total Wage Loss was then estimated by multiplying the average wage lost per employee by the number of workers who participated in each strike. Revenue per Employee was calculated by dividing total industry revenue by total workforce size. Revenue per Employee per Day assumed 250 working days per year. Revenue Lost per Striking Employee was estimated by dividing the total revenue loss by the number of striking workers. Finally, Revenue Loss as a Percentage of Total Revenue was calculated to show the broader financial impact of strike actions on each industry. The full data set can be viewed here.
Sources:
Industry strike data (from 2019 onwards):
U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics Work Stoppages
Workforce size, industry revenue, and average hourly wage:
IBISWorld – U.S. Industry Lists
BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics
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