Employers in California logged 142 WARN Act notices in May 2016, involving roughly 9,574 workers — climbing above April and up 15% versus May 2015. The average filing covered 67 workers, with 65 closures among the notices.
| Industry | Notices | Workers |
|---|---|---|
| Information & Technology | 13 | 1,114 |
| Accommodation & Food | 4 | 390 |
| Retail | 3 | 313 |
| Healthcare | 2 | 156 |
| Arts & Entertainment | 2 | 136 |
| Construction | 2 | 134 |
| Utilities | 2 | 96 |
The Information & Technology sector dominated layoff filings with 1,114 workers across 13 notices. Meanwhile, Accommodation & Food reported 390 workers.
| County | Notices | Workers |
|---|---|---|
| Los Angeles | 24 | 2,123 |
| San Bernardino | 17 | 1,852 |
| Santa Clara | 12 | 975 |
| San Diego | 8 | 762 |
| Alameda | 10 | 684 |
Los Angeles felt the sharpest impact, accounting for 22% of all affected workers with 2,123 workers across 24 notices.
| City | Notices | Workers |
|---|---|---|
| Ontario | 6 | 1,232 |
| Vernon | 4 | 844 |
| San Diego | 4 | 540 |
| Fontana | 5 | 505 |
| San Jose | 2 | 464 |
| Type | Notices | Workers |
|---|---|---|
| Layoff | 74 | 5,794 |
| Closure | 65 | 3,654 |
| Temporary Layoff | 3 | 126 |
Closures accounted for 38% of affected workers, while the majority of filings were layoffs rather than permanent shutdowns.
| Company | City | Workers | Type | Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Homemade Real Foods | Vernon | 316 | Layoff | 2016-05-05 |
| Homemade Real Foods | Vernon | 316 | Layoff | 2016-05-09 |
| AEG Management Ontario, LLC | Ontario | 280 | Layoff | 2016-05-19 |
| AEG Management Ontario, LLC | Ontario | 280 | Layoff | 2016-05-24 |
| Western Digital Technology, Inc | San Jose | 232 | Layoff | 2016-05-04 |
| Western Digital Technology, Inc | San Jose | 232 | Layoff | 2016-05-11 |
| Ardea Biosciences | San Diego | 193 | Layoff | 2016-05-02 |
| Solar Link International, Inc | Ontario | 169 | Layoff | 2016-05-19 |
| Solar Link International, Inc | Ontario | 169 | Layoff | 2016-05-23 |
| Zodiac Seat Shells U.S., LLC | Santa Maria | 168 | Layoff | 2016-05-02 |
| Levy Restaurants | Ontario | 167 | Closure | 2016-05-19 |
| Levy Restaurants | Ontario | 167 | Closure | 2016-05-20 |
| Versi-Staff Solutions, Inc | North Hollywood | 150 | Layoff | 2016-05-02 |
| Versi-Staff Solutions, Inc | North Hollywood | 150 | Layoff | 2016-05-03 |
| Ardea Biosciences | San Diego | 141 | Layoff | 2016-05-02 |
The biggest impact was at Homemade Real Foods at its Vernon facility, reporting 316 affected workers. Homemade Real Foods followed with 316 workers.
This marks the third consecutive month of rising layoff activity.
This data points to 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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