Employers in California recorded 166 WARN Act notices in October 2018, covering approximately 9,412 workers — marking a sharp increase from September and up 64% versus October 2017. The average filing covered 57 workers, with 67 closures among the notices.
| Industry | Notices | Workers |
|---|---|---|
| Manufacturing | 12 | 475 |
| Healthcare | 14 | 311 |
| Information & Technology | 6 | 239 |
| Finance & Insurance | 3 | 224 |
| Accommodation & Food | 2 | 51 |
| Education | 4 | 38 |
| Transportation | 2 | 18 |
The Manufacturing sector accounted for the largest share of job cuts with 475 workers across 12 notices. At the same time, Healthcare reported 311 workers.
| County | Notices | Workers |
|---|---|---|
| Los Angeles | 32 | 2,109 |
| Santa Clara | 16 | 1,578 |
| Kern | 7 | 1,028 |
| San Diego | 10 | 599 |
| Orange | 6 | 531 |
Los Angeles felt the sharpest impact, accounting for 22% of all affected workers with 2,109 workers across 32 notices.
| City | Notices | Workers |
|---|---|---|
| San Jose | 7 | 1,285 |
| Bakersfield | 5 | 959 |
| San Diego | 4 | 452 |
| Buena Park | 2 | 373 |
| Fresno | 1 | 323 |
| Type | Notices | Workers |
|---|---|---|
| Closure | 67 | 6,967 |
| Layoff | 38 | 2,445 |
The high proportion of closures (74% of affected workers) suggests structural shifts rather than temporary cutbacks in California's labor market.
| Company | City | Workers | Type | Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nestle USA, Inc | Bakersfield | 769 | Closure | 2018-10-15 |
| Jabil Inc | San Jose | 562 | Closure | 2018-10-24 |
| Zacky & Sons Poultry, LLC | Fresno | 323 | Closure | 2018-10-31 |
| Jabil Inc | San Jose | 289 | Closure | 2018-10-24 |
| JCPenney | Buena Park | 278 | Closure | 2018-10-24 |
| Nestle USA, Inc | Tulare | 273 | Closure | 2018-10-15 |
| Levys | Inglewood | 272 | Closure | 2018-10-30 |
| Boardriders | Mira Loma | 270 | Layoff | 2018-10-17 |
| Bayer US LLC | Berkeley | 227 | Layoff | 2018-10-04 |
| Jabil Inc | San Jose | 220 | Closure | 2018-10-19 |
| Concentra Inc | Valencia | 182 | Layoff | 2018-10-15 |
| Los Amigos Harvesting | Watsonville | 175 | Closure | 2018-10-19 |
| La Jolla Pharmaceutical Company | San Diego | 166 | Layoff | 2018-10-26 |
| MD2 Industries, LLC | Long Beach | 158 | Closure | 2018-10-17 |
| Twin Arbors Athletic Club | Lodi | 143 | Closure | 2018-10-02 |
Leading the list was Nestle USA, Inc at its Bakersfield facility, reporting 769 affected workers. Jabil Inc followed with 562 workers.
After a dip last month, layoff activity has ticked back up.
The filings reflect mounting pressure on the California labor market, with activity running above both recent and year-ago benchmarks. 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.
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