Employers in California submitted 97 WARN Act notices in May 2014, putting at risk an estimated 12,072 workers — up substantially from April and up 132% versus May 2013. The average filing covered 124 workers, with 15 closures among the notices.
| Industry | Notices | Workers |
|---|---|---|
| Information & Technology | 6 | 3,102 |
| Healthcare | 9 | 733 |
| Admin & Support Services | 3 | 694 |
| Manufacturing | 3 | 497 |
| Retail | 7 | 458 |
| Accommodation & Food | 4 | 197 |
| Transportation | 3 | 169 |
| Agriculture | 1 | 154 |
The Information & Technology sector emerged as the hardest-hit sector with 3,102 workers across 6 notices. Separately, Healthcare reported 733 workers.
| County | Notices | Workers |
|---|---|---|
| Orange | 16 | 2,324 |
| San Bernardino | 7 | 2,141 |
| Los Angeles | 18 | 1,502 |
| Imperial | 2 | 1,360 |
| San Joaquin | 5 | 978 |
Orange felt the sharpest impact, accounting for 19% of all affected workers with 2,324 workers across 16 notices.
| City | Notices | Workers |
|---|---|---|
| Fort Irwin | 2 | 1,712 |
| Brawley | 2 | 1,360 |
| Irvine | 2 | 1,244 |
| Los Angeles | 8 | 1,025 |
| San Diego | 5 | 972 |
| Type | Notices | Workers |
|---|---|---|
| Layoff | 28 | 3,701 |
| Closure | 15 | 1,708 |
Closures accounted for 14% of affected workers, while the majority of filings were layoffs rather than permanent shutdowns.
| Company | City | Workers | Type | Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| National Beef California, Lp | Brawley | 1,342 | 2014-05-30 | |
| Verizon Wireless-Irvine | Irvine | 1,092 | 2014-05-08 | |
| Northrop Grumman Technical Services, Inc | Fort Irwin | 899 | Layoff | 2014-05-21 |
| Northrop Grumman Technical Services, Inc | Fort Irwin | 813 | Layoff | 2014-05-21 |
| Sony Electronics, Inc.-San Diego | San Diego | 400 | 2014-05-02 | |
| Jacobson Staffing Company, L.C | Tracy | 390 | Layoff | 2014-05-28 |
| Mi Pueblo Foods, Inc | Atwater | 279 | Closure | 2014-05-27 |
| St. Jude Medical | Sylmar | 274 | Layoff | 2014-05-28 |
| Palm Dr.Hospital/Palm Dr.Hand&Physical Therapy | Sebastopol | 242 | 2014-05-28 | |
| Bbb Industries, LLC | Stockton | 241 | 2014-05-17 | |
| Contessa Premium Foods, Inc | Los Angeles | 239 | Closure | 2014-05-01 |
| U.S. Aviation Services Corp-La Intntl Airport | Los Angeles | 237 | 2014-05-01 | |
| Deluxe Laboratories | Los Angeles | 237 | 2014-05-09 | |
| MV Transportation, Inc | Anaheim | 232 | Layoff | 2014-05-20 |
| Full Steam Staffing-Bbb Industries | Stockton | 203 | 2014-05-17 |
Topping the list was National Beef California, Lp at its Brawley facility, reporting 1,342 affected workers. Verizon Wireless-Irvine followed with 1,092 workers.
After a dip last month, layoff activity has ticked back up.
These figures highlight 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.
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