California Layoffs — December 2018

Employers in California logged 53 WARN Act notices in December 2018, involving roughly 6,531 workers — climbing above November and up 95% versus December 2017. The average filing covered 123 workers, with 21 closures among the notices.

Industry Breakdown

The Healthcare sector dominated layoff filings with 2,979 workers across 11 notices. Meanwhile, Manufacturing reported 1,345 workers.

Geographic Hotspots

Los Angeles felt the sharpest impact, accounting for 32% of all affected workers with 2,085 workers across 21 notices.

Layoff Type Analysis

Closures accounted for 26% of affected workers, while the majority of filings were layoffs rather than permanent shutdowns.

Largest Layoffs

The biggest impact was at Verity Health System of California at its San Jose facility, reporting 1,326 affected workers. Silver Lake Medical Center followed with 573 workers.

Trend & Outlook

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

This data points to mounting pressure on the California labor market, with activity running above both recent and year-ago benchmarks. The Healthcare 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.