California Layoffs — February 2016
Employers in California posted 85 WARN Act notices in February 2016, affecting an estimated 7,561 workers — reflecting a significant uptick compared to January and up 12% versus February 2015. The average filing covered 89 workers, with 32 closures among the notices.
Industry Breakdown
| Industry | Notices | Workers |
|---|---|---|
| Information & Technology | 20 | 1,925 |
| Manufacturing | 19 | 1,888 |
| Accommodation & Food | 6 | 866 |
| Finance & Insurance | 10 | 454 |
| Education | 5 | 359 |
| Healthcare | 5 | 326 |
| Retail | 4 | 278 |
| Utilities | 3 | 216 |
The Information & Technology sector saw the heaviest impact with 1,925 workers across 20 notices. On a related front, Manufacturing reported 1,888 workers.
Geographic Hotspots
| County | Notices | Workers |
|---|---|---|
| Orange | 11 | 2,204 |
| Los Angeles | 20 | 882 |
| San Francisco | 11 | 842 |
| San Diego | 8 | 782 |
| Santa Clara | 8 | 459 |
Orange was the epicenter of layoff activity, accounting for 29% of all affected workers with 2,204 workers across 11 notices.
| City | Notices | Workers |
|---|---|---|
| Santa Ana | 1 | 969 |
| San Francisco | 12 | 887 |
| Irvine | 2 | 696 |
| Yountville | 1 | 326 |
| Sunnyvale | 3 | 284 |
Layoff Type Analysis
| Type | Notices | Workers |
|---|---|---|
| Layoff | 53 | 4,653 |
| Closure | 32 | 2,908 |
Closures accounted for 38% of affected workers, while the majority of filings were layoffs rather than permanent shutdowns.
Largest Layoffs
| Company | City | Workers | Type | Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Freedom Communications | Santa Ana | 969 | Layoff | |
| Broadcom and Avago | Irvine | 689 | Layoff | |
| Vintage Estates | Yountville | 326 | Layoff | |
| The Ritz-Carlton, Lake Tahoe | Truckee | 253 | Closure | |
| Bae Systems | San Francisco | 228 | Layoff | |
| Odwalla | Dinuba | 164 | Closure | |
| 61 N Raymond | Pasadena | 154 | Closure | |
| Broadcom and Avago | Santa Clara | 147 | Layoff | |
| JCPenney | Cupertino | 147 | Closure | |
| Slater’s 50/50 | San Diego | 145 | Closure | |
| Blue Shield of California | El Dorado Hills | 137 | Layoff | |
| 8009 Day Burgers | Rancho | 136 | Closure | |
| Yahoo! | Sunnyvale | 127 | Layoff | |
| Pacific Bell Telephone | Tustin | 121 | Layoff | |
| Pinecrest Schools | Moorpark | 118 | Closure |
The largest notice was filed by Freedom Communications at its Santa Ana facility, reporting 969 affected workers. Broadcom and Avago followed with 689 workers.
Trend & Outlook
After a dip last month, layoff activity has ticked back up.
The trends suggest 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.