California Layoffs — March 2020
Employers in California posted 2778 WARN Act notices in March 2020, affecting an estimated 317,946 workers — reflecting a significant uptick compared to February and up 4759% versus March 2019. The average filing covered 114 workers, with 484 closures among the notices.
Industry Breakdown
| Industry | Notices | Workers |
|---|---|---|
| Accommodation & Food | 1112 | 157,509 |
| Arts & Entertainment | 305 | 37,876 |
| Manufacturing | 394 | 33,540 |
| Retail | 225 | 16,574 |
| Information & Technology | 95 | 11,113 |
| Healthcare | 155 | 10,840 |
| Transportation | 82 | 10,791 |
| Government | 94 | 10,338 |
The Accommodation & Food sector saw the heaviest impact with 157,509 workers across 1112 notices. On a related front, Arts & Entertainment reported 37,876 workers.
Geographic Hotspots
| County | Notices | Workers |
|---|---|---|
| Los Angeles | 807 | 101,480 |
| San Diego | 320 | 43,476 |
| Orange | 266 | 31,387 |
| San Francisco | 186 | 23,626 |
| Santa Clara | 170 | 17,023 |
Los Angeles absorbed the greatest share of layoffs, accounting for 32% of all affected workers with 101,480 workers across 807 notices.
| City | Notices | Workers |
|---|---|---|
| Los Angeles | 236 | 33,859 |
| San Diego | 173 | 26,735 |
| San Francisco | 185 | 23,460 |
| San Jose | 69 | 7,913 |
| Sacramento | 66 | 6,386 |
Layoff Type Analysis
| Type | Notices | Workers |
|---|---|---|
| Layoff | 2294 | 257,139 |
| Closure | 484 | 60,807 |
Closures accounted for 19% of affected workers, while the majority of filings were layoffs rather than permanent shutdowns.
Largest Layoffs
| Company | City | Workers | Type | Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| LAZ Parking California | San Diego | 2,260 | Layoff | |
| Hawaiian Gardens Casino | Hawaiian Gardens | 1,900 | Layoff | |
| The California Commerce Club DBA The Commerce Casuno & Hotel | Los Angeles | 1,884 | Closure | |
| Aramark - Yosemite | Yosemite National Park | 1,829 | Layoff | |
| LEGOLAND California LLC, DBA LEGOLAND California Resort | Carlsbad | 1,810 | Closure | |
| Pebble Beach | Pebble Beach | 1,800 | Closure | |
| GSW Arena LLC-Chase Center | San Francisco | 1,720 | Layoff | |
| YMCA of Silicon Valley | Santa Clara | 1,657 | Layoff | |
| BON APPETIT Management | San Francisco | 1,529 | Layoff | |
| YogaWorks | Culver City | 1,514 | Layoff | |
| Bicycle Casino, L.P | Bell Gardens | 1,500 | Layoff | |
| Magic Mountain | Valencia | 1,454 | Layoff | |
| Cohn Restaurant Group | San Diego | 1,358 | Layoff | |
| TeamSanJose | San Jose | 1,304 | Layoff | |
| YMCA of Metropolitan Los Angeles | Los Angeles | 1,228 | Layoff |
The largest notice was filed by LAZ Parking California at its San Diego facility, reporting 2,260 affected workers. Hawaiian Gardens Casino followed with 1,900 workers.
Trend & Outlook
This marks the third consecutive month of rising layoff activity.
The trends suggest mounting pressure on the California labor market, with activity running above both recent and year-ago benchmarks. The Accommodation & Food 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.