California Layoffs — September 2023
Employers in California filed 151 WARN Act notices in September 2023, impacting roughly 8,117 workers — representing a notable rise over August and up 23% versus September 2022. The average filing covered 54 workers, with 49 closures among the notices.
Industry Breakdown
| Industry | Notices | Workers |
|---|---|---|
| Manufacturing | 34 | 2,836 |
| Information & Technology | 36 | 1,760 |
| Transportation | 15 | 571 |
| Education | 2 | 557 |
| Finance & Insurance | 13 | 503 |
| Retail | 6 | 331 |
| Healthcare | 8 | 262 |
| Accommodation & Food | 7 | 237 |
The Manufacturing sector led the way in workforce reductions with 2,836 workers across 34 notices. In a parallel development, Information & Technology reported 1,760 workers.
Geographic Hotspots
| County | Notices | Workers |
|---|---|---|
| Los Angeles | 38 | 1,701 |
| Kern | 4 | 1,100 |
| Santa Clara | 10 | 970 |
| Sacramento | 7 | 832 |
| San Francisco | 16 | 716 |
Los Angeles was the epicenter of layoff activity, accounting for 21% of all affected workers with 1,701 workers across 38 notices.
| City | Notices | Workers |
|---|---|---|
| Bakersfield | 4 | 1,100 |
| San Francisco | 15 | 816 |
| Sacramento | 6 | 774 |
| Woodland Hills | 9 | 445 |
| Los Angeles | 5 | 400 |
Layoff Type Analysis
| Type | Notices | Workers |
|---|---|---|
| Layoff | 100 | 4,245 |
| Closure | 47 | 2,505 |
| Temporary Layoff | 2 | 1,232 |
| Temporary Closure | 2 | 135 |
Closures accounted for 33% 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 | |
| Shaw Industries Group Inc.Plant WG | Los Angeles | 283 | Closure | |
| 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 | Rutherford | 217 | Temporary Layoff | |
| Cacique Foods | City Of Industry | 203 | Closure | |
| BMO Bank N.A.successorininterestto Bankofthe West | San Francisco | 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 |
The single largest action involved 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 data underscores 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.