California Layoffs — August 2016

Employers in California submitted 52 WARN Act notices in August 2016, putting at risk an estimated 6,679 workers — up substantially from July and up 13% versus August 2015. The average filing covered 128 workers, with 19 closures among the notices.

Industry Breakdown

The Manufacturing sector emerged as the hardest-hit sector with 3,641 workers across 23 notices. Separately, Information & Technology reported 883 workers.

Geographic Hotspots

Santa Clara absorbed the greatest share of layoffs, accounting for 23% of all affected workers with 1,538 workers across 7 notices.

Layoff Type Analysis

Closures accounted for 43% of affected workers, while the majority of filings were layoffs rather than permanent shutdowns.

Largest Layoffs

Topping the list was Ashley Furniture Industries at its Colton facility, reporting 900 affected workers. Cisco Systems followed with 899 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 Manufacturing 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.