Search workforce reduction events

Events API provides access to structured information about workforce reductions extracted from news articles. This guide explains how to discover available search fields, construct search requests, and understand the returned data.

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Available search fields

Get available search fields for layoff events using the discovery endpoint:

GET /api/events_info/get_event_fields?event_type=layoff

The endpoint returns the following fields that can be used for filtering search results. All fields are optional for search requests.

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Common fields

• company_name: The name of the company conducting the layoff.
• event_date: The date when the layoff occurred.
• extraction_date: The date when the event was extracted from news sources.

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Layoff-specific fields

• layoff.number_of_people_laid_off: The exact number of employees affected by the layoff.
• layoff.percentage_of_people_laid_off: The percentage of total workforce affected by the layoff.
• layoff.min_number_of_people_laid_off: The minimum number of employees affected when a range is specified.
• layoff.max_number_of_people_laid_off: The maximum number of employees affected when a range is specified.
• layoff.how_much_related: The relevance rating of the layoff event. Possible values: “Completely Irrelevant”, “Irrelevant”, “Very Poor”, “Poor”, “Fair”, “Good”, “Very Good”, “Excellent”. Default: None.
• layoff.is_relevant_for_real_estate: True if the layoff impacts real estate markets; false otherwise.
• layoff.layoff_reason: The stated reason for the layoff.
• layoff.location: The location details of the layoff. Contains fields for country, state, city, and county.
• layoff.summary: A detailed description of the layoff event, including key information about the circumstances and impact.

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Searching for events

Use the search endpoint to find layoff events:

POST /api/events_search

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Basic request structure

{
  "event_type": "layoff",
  "attach_articles_data": true,
  "additional_filters": {
    // search criteria using available fields
  }
}

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Using search fields

Search by dates (absolute or relative):

{
  "event_type": "layoff",
  "additional_filters": {
    "event_date": {
      "gte": "2024-01-01",
      "lte": "2024-02-01"
    },
    "extraction_date": {
      "gte": "now-7d",
      "lte": "now"
    }
  }
}

Search by employee count:

{
  "event_type": "layoff",
  "additional_filters": {
    "layoff.number_of_people_laid_off": {
      "gte": 1000
    },
    "layoff.percentage_of_people_laid_off": {
      "gte": 10
    }
  }
}

Search by location:

{
  "event_type": "layoff",
  "additional_filters": {
    "layoff.location": {
      "state": "California"
    }
  }
}

Search by relevance:

{
  "event_type": "layoff",
  "additional_filters": {
    "layoff.how_much_related": "Excellent",
    "layoff.is_relevant_for_real_estate": "true"
  }
}

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Understanding the response

The API returns matched events in this structure:

{
  "message": "Success",
  "count": 25,
  "events": [
    {
      // Base event fields
      "id": "event-id",
      "event_type": "layoff",
      "global_event_type": "Layoff",
      "company_name": "Company Name",
      "event_date": "2025-02-13 00:00:00",
      "extraction_date": "2025-02-13 19:01:18",
      "associated_article_ids": ["article-id-1", "article-id-2"],

      // Layoff-specific data
      "layoff": {
        "number_of_people_laid_off": 1000,
        "percentage_of_people_laid_off": 10,
        "min_number_of_people_laid_off": 1000,
        "max_number_of_people_laid_off": 1000,
        "summary": "Event description",
        "layoff_reason": "Stated reason",
        "is_relevant_for_real_estate": false,
        "how_much_related": "Excellent",
        "location": [
          {
            "city": "City Name",
            "county": "County Name",
            "state": "State Name",
            "country": "Country Name",
            "raw_location": "Original location text"
          }
        ]
      },

      // Article data (when requested)
      "articles": [
        // See "Working with articles" guide
      ]
    }
  ]
}

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Working with articles

See Working with articles for details about article data structure and available fields.

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Best practices

1. Use extraction_date for monitoring recent layoffs and live tracking.
2. Use event_date for historical analysis and reporting.
3. Combine multiple filters to narrow results more precisely.
4. Consider both exact numbers and ranges when searching by employee count.

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See also

• Parameter formats
• Working with articles
• API reference