California Layoffs — October 2017

Employers in California filed 62 WARN Act notices in October 2017, impacting roughly 5,864 workers — representing a notable rise over September and up 8% versus October 2016. The average filing covered 95 workers, with 36 closures among the notices.

Industry Breakdown

The Manufacturing sector led the way in workforce reductions with 2,035 workers across 15 notices. In a parallel development, Healthcare reported 998 workers.

Geographic Hotspots

Los Angeles felt the sharpest impact, accounting for 35% of all affected workers with 2,026 workers across 23 notices.

Layoff Type Analysis

Closures accounted for 48% of affected workers, while the majority of filings were layoffs rather than permanent shutdowns.

Largest Layoffs

The single largest action involved Nestle USA at its Bakersfield facility, reporting 679 affected workers. HealthCare Conglomerate Associates followed with 524 workers.

Trend & Outlook

This marks the third consecutive month of rising layoff activity.

The data underscores 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.