California Layoffs — October 2023

Employers in California submitted 152 WARN Act notices in October 2023, putting at risk an estimated 8,265 workers — up substantially from September and up 2% versus October 2022. The average filing covered 54 workers, with 52 closures among the notices.

Industry Breakdown

The Manufacturing sector emerged as the hardest-hit sector with 4,638 workers across 56 notices. Separately, Transportation reported 796 workers.

Geographic Hotspots

Los Angeles felt the sharpest impact, accounting for 22% of all affected workers with 1,845 workers across 25 notices.

Layoff Type Analysis

Closures accounted for 42% of affected workers, while the majority of filings were layoffs rather than permanent shutdowns.

Largest Layoffs

Topping the list was Dryer's Grand Ice Cream at its Bakersfield facility, reporting 1,015 affected workers. Jabil followed with 550 workers.

Trend & Outlook

This marks the third consecutive month of rising layoff activity.

These figures highlight 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.