California Layoffs — May 2024
Employers in California posted 226 WARN Act notices in May 2024, affecting an estimated 10,877 workers — reflecting a cooling compared to April and up 3% versus May 2023. The average filing covered 48 workers, with 54 closures among the notices.
Industry Breakdown
| Industry | Notices | Workers |
|---|---|---|
| Manufacturing | 37 | 2,450 |
| Healthcare | 64 | 1,665 |
| Retail | 12 | 1,455 |
| Information & Technology | 26 | 800 |
| Professional Services | 9 | 762 |
| Transportation | 8 | 728 |
| Utilities | 5 | 358 |
| Construction | 2 | 219 |
The Manufacturing sector saw the heaviest impact with 2,450 workers across 37 notices. On a related front, Healthcare reported 1,665 workers.
Geographic Hotspots
| County | Notices | Workers |
|---|---|---|
| Los Angeles | 50 | 1,858 |
| Santa Clara | 23 | 1,127 |
| San Mateo | 9 | 1,124 |
| Orange | 25 | 994 |
| San Diego | 26 | 992 |
Los Angeles felt the sharpest impact, accounting for 17% of all affected workers with 1,858 workers across 50 notices.
| City | Notices | Workers |
|---|---|---|
| San Diego | 19 | 859 |
| San Bruno | 7 | 736 |
| Olympic Blvd Los Angeles | 12 | 615 |
| Fremont | 6 | 601 |
| Stockton | 1 | 390 |
Layoff Type Analysis
| Type | Notices | Workers |
|---|---|---|
| Layoff | 171 | 7,302 |
| Closure | 54 | 3,497 |
| Temporary Layoff | 1 | 78 |
Closures accounted for 32% of affected workers, while the majority of filings were layoffs rather than permanent shutdowns.
Largest Layoffs
| Company | City | Workers | Type | Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Amazon | Stockton | 390 | Layoff | |
| Walmart | San Bruno | 388 | Layoff | |
| Takeda Development Centers America | San Diego | 324 | Closure | |
| Walmart | San Bruno | 250 | Layoff | |
| Pro Youth | Visalia | 247 | Layoff | |
| Fisker Group | Manhattan Beach | 244 | Closure | |
| Ruiz Food Products | 215 | Closure | ||
| First Student | San Bernardino | 201 | Layoff | |
| Pixar | Emeryville | 181 | Layoff | |
| Walmart | Sunnyvale | 179 | Layoff | |
| Tropicale Foods, LLC, aka PLM Operations | Modesto | 168 | Closure | |
| Tesla | Fremont | 164 | Layoff | |
| Phoenix Labs USA Operations, Inc. aka Phoenix Labs (Foster City) | San Mateo | 162 | Layoff | |
| CHEP Services | 162 | Closure | ||
| Aaron Thomas | Garden Grove | 155 | Layoff |
The largest notice was filed by Amazon at its Stockton facility, reporting 390 affected workers. Walmart followed with 388 workers.
Trend & Outlook
The trends suggest 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.