California Layoffs — February 2024
Employers in California logged 206 WARN Act notices in February 2024, involving roughly 12,517 workers — falling below January and up 2% versus February 2023. The average filing covered 61 workers, with 32 closures among the notices.
Industry Breakdown
| Industry | Notices | Workers |
|---|---|---|
| Manufacturing | 60 | 3,775 |
| Information & Technology | 31 | 3,696 |
| Accommodation & Food | 32 | 1,362 |
| Transportation | 8 | 583 |
| Healthcare | 26 | 559 |
| Wholesale Trade | 9 | 543 |
| Professional Services | 7 | 456 |
| Construction | 4 | 381 |
The Manufacturing sector dominated layoff filings with 3,775 workers across 60 notices. Meanwhile, Information & Technology reported 3,696 workers.
Geographic Hotspots
| County | Notices | Workers |
|---|---|---|
| Los Angeles | 46 | 3,149 |
| Santa Clara | 29 | 2,432 |
| Orange | 34 | 1,725 |
| Riverside | 6 | 938 |
| San Mateo | 9 | 851 |
Los Angeles bore the heaviest burden, accounting for 25% of all affected workers with 3,149 workers across 46 notices.
| City | Notices | Workers |
|---|---|---|
| Los Angeles | 18 | 1,318 |
| San Jose | 6 | 1,132 |
| Irvine | 9 | 707 |
| San Francisco | 10 | 645 |
| San Mateo | 4 | 543 |
Layoff Type Analysis
| Type | Notices | Workers |
|---|---|---|
| Layoff | 174 | 10,302 |
| Closure | 32 | 2,215 |
Closures accounted for 18% of affected workers, while the majority of filings were layoffs rather than permanent shutdowns.
Largest Layoffs
| Company | City | Workers | Type | Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| California Institute of Technology | La Canada Flintridge | 521 | Layoff | |
| Activision Blizzard | Irvine | 479 | Layoff | |
| Cisco | San Jose | 447 | Layoff | |
| Cisco Systems | Tasman Drive San Jose | 447 | Layoff | |
| El Dorado National (California) | Jurupa Valley | 425 | Layoff | |
| Southern California Pizza | Los Angeles | 393 | Layoff | |
| Riot Games | Los Angeles | 330 | Layoff | |
| PayPal | San Jose | 311 | Layoff | |
| Hawker Pacific Aerospace | Sun Valley | 260 | Layoff | |
| Boardriders Wholesale | Mira Loma | 246 | Layoff | |
| Woodland Rite Aid Distribution Center | Beamer Street Woodland | 241 | Closure | |
| Balfour Beatty US Civils | San Mateo | 222 | Layoff | |
| Cisco | San Jose | 176 | Layoff | |
| Cisco Systems | Milpitas | 176 | Layoff | |
| Covenant Living Communities & Services (Covenant Living West) DBA Brandel Manor and Cypress Assisted | Turlock | 168 | Closure |
The biggest impact was at California Institute of Technology at its La Canada Flintridge facility, reporting 521 affected workers. Activision Blizzard followed with 479 workers.
Trend & Outlook
This data points to a mixed picture for California's labor market, with activity diverging between monthly and annual comparisons. 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.