Employers in California posted 128 WARN Act notices in January 2016, affecting an estimated 11,500 workers — reflecting a cooling compared to December and up 30% versus January 2015. The average filing covered 90 workers, with 65 closures among the notices.
| Industry | Notices | Workers |
|---|---|---|
| Retail | 13 | 2,098 |
| Agriculture | 3 | 969 |
| Healthcare | 3 | 458 |
| Manufacturing | 5 | 147 |
| Transportation | 1 | 131 |
| Finance & Insurance | 2 | 125 |
| Education | 1 | 34 |
The Retail sector saw the heaviest impact with 2,098 workers across 13 notices. On a related front, Agriculture reported 969 workers.
| County | Notices | Workers |
|---|---|---|
| Los Angeles | 31 | 2,507 |
| Orange | 16 | 2,340 |
| Santa Clara | 18 | 1,845 |
| Santa Barbara | 3 | 888 |
| Alameda | 7 | 690 |
Los Angeles saw the most concentrated activity, accounting for 22% of all affected workers with 2,507 workers across 31 notices.
| City | Notices | Workers |
|---|---|---|
| Irvine | 6 | 1,818 |
| Santa Maria | 2 | 879 |
| Torrance | 2 | 776 |
| Santa Clara | 4 | 712 |
| Long Beach | 4 | 702 |
| Type | Notices | Workers |
|---|---|---|
| Layoff | 63 | 6,270 |
| Closure | 65 | 5,230 |
Closures accounted for 45% of affected workers, while the majority of filings were layoffs rather than permanent shutdowns.
| Company | City | Workers | Type | Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Broadcom and Avago | Irvine | 771 | Layoff | 2016-01-29 |
| Broadcom and Avago | Irvine | 689 | Layoff | 2016-01-29 |
| El Dorado Berry Farms, LLC | Santa Maria | 654 | Layoff | 2016-01-14 |
| Broadcom and Avago | Santa Clara | 435 | Layoff | 2016-01-29 |
| Walmart | Oakland | 397 | Closure | 2016-01-15 |
| Pathology, Inc | Torrance | 388 | Layoff | 2016-01-19 |
| Pathology, Inc | Torrance | 388 | Layoff | 2016-01-22 |
| Molina Hospital Management, Inc | Long Beach | 385 | Layoff | 2016-01-12 |
| Walmart | Los Angeles | 324 | Closure | 2016-01-15 |
| Walmart | Long Beach | 295 | Closure | 2016-01-15 |
| Superior Farming, LLC | Santa Maria | 225 | Layoff | 2016-01-14 |
| Walmart | San Jose | 210 | Closure | 2016-01-15 |
| Urban Fulfillment Services, LLC | Westlake Village | 192 | Closure | 2016-01-29 |
| VMware, Inc | Palo Alto | 170 | Layoff | 2016-01-26 |
| Georgia-Pacific Corrugated LLC | Buena Park | 148 | Closure | 2016-01-19 |
The largest notice was filed by Broadcom and Avago at its Irvine facility, reporting 771 affected workers. Broadcom and Avago followed with 689 workers.
The trends suggest a mixed picture for California's labor market, with activity diverging between monthly and annual comparisons. The Retail 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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