California Layoffs — February 2021

Employers in California reported 60 WARN Act notices in February 2021, displacing an estimated 9,470 workers — signaling an acceleration from January and up 17% versus February 2020. The average filing covered 158 workers, with 23 closures among the notices.

Industry Breakdown

The Transportation sector topped the list of affected industries with 4,092 workers across 5 notices. Notably, Manufacturing reported 2,619 workers.

Geographic Hotspots

San Francisco bore the heaviest burden, accounting for 35% of all affected workers with 3,351 workers across 7 notices.

Layoff Type Analysis

Closures accounted for 16% of affected workers, while the majority of filings were layoffs rather than permanent shutdowns.

Largest Layoffs

The most significant filing came from United Airlines - SFO at its San Francisco facility, reporting 3,139 affected workers. United Airlines - LAX followed with 662 workers.

Trend & Outlook

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

The numbers illustrate mounting pressure on the California labor market, with activity running above both recent and year-ago benchmarks. The Transportation 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.