California Layoffs — September 2023
Employers in California posted 151 WARN Act notices in September 2023, affecting an estimated 7,837 workers — reflecting a significant uptick compared to August and up 19% versus September 2022. The average filing covered 52 workers, with 48 closures among the notices.
Industry Breakdown
| Industry | Notices | Workers |
|---|---|---|
| Information & Technology | 32 | 1,564 |
| Manufacturing | 26 | 1,013 |
| Education | 2 | 557 |
| Finance & Insurance | 13 | 503 |
| Transportation | 11 | 453 |
| Retail | 5 | 293 |
| Healthcare | 8 | 262 |
| Agriculture | 6 | 224 |
The Information & Technology sector saw the heaviest impact with 1,564 workers across 32 notices. On a related front, Manufacturing reported 1,013 workers.
Geographic Hotspots
| County | Notices | Workers |
|---|---|---|
| Los Angeles | 37 | 1,418 |
| Kern | 4 | 1,100 |
| Santa Clara | 10 | 970 |
| Sacramento | 7 | 832 |
| San Francisco | 17 | 719 |
Los Angeles was the epicenter of layoff activity, accounting for 18% of all affected workers with 1,418 workers across 37 notices.
| City | Notices | Workers |
|---|---|---|
| Bakersfield | 4 | 1,100 |
| Sacramento | 5 | 734 |
| San Francisco | 13 | 492 |
| Woodland Hills | 9 | 445 |
| Santa Clara | 1 | 240 |
Layoff Type Analysis
| Type | Notices | Workers |
|---|---|---|
| Layoff | 101 | 4,248 |
| Closure | 46 | 2,222 |
| Temporary Layoff | 2 | 1,232 |
| Temporary Closure | 2 | 135 |
Closures accounted for 30% of affected workers, while the majority of filings were layoffs rather than permanent shutdowns.
Largest Layoffs
| Company | City | Workers | Type | Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dryer's Grand Ice Cream | Bakersfield | 1,015 | Temporary Layoff | |
| Foundation for California Community Colleges | Sacramento | 298 | Layoff | |
| Foundation for California Community Colleges | Sacramento | 259 | Layoff | |
| TTM Technologies, Inc., subsidiary of TTM Technologies North America | Santa Clara | 240 | Closure | |
| Cisco Systems | Tasman Drive San Jose | 227 | Layoff | |
| Aubergedu Soleil | 217 | Temporary Layoff | ||
| Cacique Foods | 203 | Closure | ||
| BMO Bank N.A.successorininterestto Bankofthe West | 200 | Layoff | ||
| ContextLogic | San Francisco | 152 | Layoff | |
| Certified Freight Logistics | Santa Maria | 150 | Closure | |
| Clari | Sunnyvale | 139 | Layoff | |
| Farmers Group | Woodland Hills | 135 | Layoff | |
| L3 Technologies, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of L3Harris Technologies | Carlsbad | 134 | Closure | |
| J.B. Hunt Transport | Livermore | 127 | Closure | |
| Farmers Insurance Exchange | Woodland Hills | 124 | Layoff |
The largest notice was filed by Dryer's Grand Ice Cream at its Bakersfield facility, reporting 1,015 affected workers. Foundation for California Community Colleges followed with 298 workers.
Trend & Outlook
After a dip last month, layoff activity has ticked back up.
The trends suggest mounting pressure on the California labor market, with activity running above both recent and year-ago benchmarks. The Information & Technology 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.