California Layoffs — October 2022

Employers in California reported 100 WARN Act notices in October 2022, displacing an estimated 8,101 workers — signaling an acceleration from September and up 80% versus October 2021. The average filing covered 81 workers, with 35 closures among the notices.

Industry Breakdown

The Manufacturing sector topped the list of affected industries with 3,238 workers across 24 notices. Notably, Transportation reported 1,222 workers.

Geographic Hotspots

Alameda felt the sharpest impact, accounting for 26% of all affected workers with 2,110 workers across 13 notices.

Layoff Type Analysis

The high proportion of closures (64% of affected workers) suggests structural shifts rather than temporary cutbacks in California's labor market.

Largest Layoffs

The most significant filing came from Cepheid at its Newark facility, reporting 632 affected workers. Hello Fresh followed with 611 workers.

Trend & Outlook

This marks the third consecutive month of rising layoff activity.

The numbers illustrate 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.