California Layoffs — May 2014

Employers in California submitted 99 WARN Act notices in May 2014, putting at risk an estimated 12,173 workers — up substantially from April and up 133% versus May 2013. The average filing covered 123 workers, with 15 closures among the notices.

Industry Breakdown

The Information & Technology sector emerged as the hardest-hit sector with 4,513 workers across 17 notices. Separately, Manufacturing reported 3,905 workers.

Geographic Hotspots

Orange felt the sharpest impact, accounting for 20% of all affected workers with 2,478 workers across 17 notices.

Layoff Type Analysis

Closures accounted for 13% of affected workers, while the majority of filings were layoffs rather than permanent shutdowns.

Largest Layoffs

Topping the list was National Beef California at its Brawley facility, reporting 1,342 affected workers. Verizon Wireless-Irvine followed with 1,092 workers.

Trend & Outlook

After a dip last month, layoff activity has ticked back up.

These figures highlight mounting pressure on the California labor market, with activity running above both recent and year-ago benchmarks. The Information & Technology sector warrants close attention heading into the next period.

This analysis is based on official WARN Act filings reported by California. The Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification (WARN) Act requires employers with 100+ employees to provide 60-day advance notice of mass layoffs and plant closings. Data is updated daily by WARN Firehose. View all California WARN notices, browse layoffs by state, or download the full dataset.