Employers in California filed 3979 WARN Act notices in April 2020, impacting roughly 239,554 workers — representing a notable rise over March and up 3183% versus April 2019. The average filing covered 60 workers, with 364 closures among the notices.
| Industry | Notices | Workers |
|---|---|---|
| Accommodation & Food | 434 | 53,193 |
| Manufacturing | 312 | 12,368 |
| Healthcare | 207 | 9,462 |
| Transportation | 24 | 2,912 |
| Arts & Entertainment | 62 | 2,870 |
| Retail | 82 | 2,189 |
| Education | 69 | 1,873 |
| Agriculture | 37 | 1,763 |
The Accommodation & Food sector led the way in workforce reductions with 53,193 workers across 434 notices. In a parallel development, Manufacturing reported 12,368 workers.
| County | Notices | Workers |
|---|---|---|
| Los Angeles | 704 | 61,427 |
| San Diego | 339 | 37,316 |
| Orange | 234 | 31,247 |
| San Francisco | 259 | 17,681 |
| Santa Clara | 179 | 13,015 |
Los Angeles was the epicenter of layoff activity, accounting for 26% of all affected workers with 61,427 workers across 704 notices.
| City | Notices | Workers |
|---|---|---|
| San Diego | 134 | 23,941 |
| Los Angeles | 161 | 21,408 |
| San Francisco | 155 | 17,515 |
| Irvine | 34 | 7,663 |
| San Jose | 52 | 6,755 |
| Type | Notices | Workers |
|---|---|---|
| Layoff | 1838 | 198,223 |
| Closure | 364 | 41,331 |
Closures accounted for 17% of affected workers, while the majority of filings were layoffs rather than permanent shutdowns.
| Company | City | Workers | Type | Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pacific Dental Services, LLC | Irvine | 3,029 | Layoff | 2020-04-16 |
| Sea World | San Diego | 2,250 | Closure | 2020-04-14 |
| SeaWorld San Diego | San Diego | 2,225 | Layoff | 2020-04-11 |
| Aramark - Yosemite | Yosemite National Park | 1,829 | Layoff | 2020-04-20 |
| LEGOLAND California LLC, dba LEGOLAND California Resort | Carlsbad | 1,810 | Closure | 2020-04-24 |
| Burlington Distribution Corp | San Bernardino | 1,653 | Closure | 2020-04-21 |
| Cohn Restaurant Group | San Diego | 1,358 | Layoff | 2020-04-07 |
| TeamSanJose | San Jose | 1,304 | Layoff | 2020-04-09 |
| Goodwill Industries of San Diego County (GISD) | San Diego | 1,235 | Layoff | 2020-04-28 |
| YMCA of Metropolitan Los Angeles | Los Angeles | 1,228 | Layoff | 2020-04-15 |
| Padres LP | San Diego | 1,215 | Layoff | 2020-04-16 |
| San Francisco Giants | San Francisco | 1,200 | Layoff | 2020-04-18 |
| The Brigantine Inc | San Diego | 1,092 | Closure | 2020-04-14 |
| Marriott Hotel Services, Inc - JW Marriott Desert Springs Resort & Spa | Palm Desert | 1,084 | Layoff | 2020-04-14 |
| The Performing Arts Center of Los Angeles County | Los Angeles | 1,069 | Layoff | 2020-04-28 |
The single largest action involved Pacific Dental Services, LLC at its Irvine facility, reporting 3,029 affected workers. Sea World followed with 2,250 workers.
This marks the third consecutive month of rising layoff activity.
The data underscores mounting pressure on the California labor market, with activity running above both recent and year-ago benchmarks. The Accommodation & Food 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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