California Layoffs — October 2021
Employers in California filed 60 WARN Act notices in October 2021, impacting roughly 4,508 workers — representing a notable rise over September and down 45% versus October 2020. The average filing covered 75 workers, with 22 closures among the notices.
Industry Breakdown
| Industry | Notices | Workers |
|---|---|---|
| Manufacturing | 10 | 1,067 |
| Transportation | 5 | 630 |
| Accommodation & Food | 5 | 360 |
| Healthcare | 4 | 174 |
| Information & Technology | 2 | 161 |
| Retail | 2 | 122 |
| Wholesale Trade | 1 | 84 |
| Professional Services | 1 | 82 |
The Manufacturing sector led the way in workforce reductions with 1,067 workers across 10 notices. In a parallel development, Transportation reported 630 workers.
Geographic Hotspots
| County | Notices | Workers |
|---|---|---|
| Orange | 4 | 1,126 |
| Los Angeles | 12 | 641 |
| Stanislaus | 5 | 580 |
| San Mateo | 5 | 431 |
| Santa Clara | 9 | 380 |
Orange saw the most concentrated activity, accounting for 25% of all affected workers with 1,126 workers across 4 notices.
| City | Notices | Workers |
|---|---|---|
| Brea | 2 | 1,054 |
| San Francisco | 7 | 358 |
| Mcclellan | 1 | 217 |
| Inglewood | 5 | 216 |
| Antioch | 2 | 211 |
Layoff Type Analysis
| Type | Notices | Workers |
|---|---|---|
| Layoff | 35 | 2,238 |
| Closure | 22 | 1,532 |
| Temporary Layoff | 3 | 738 |
Closures accounted for 34% of affected workers, while the majority of filings were layoffs rather than permanent shutdowns.
Largest Layoffs
| Company | City | Workers | Type | Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kirkhill | Brea | 527 | Temporary Layoff | |
| Kirkhill | Brea | 527 | Layoff | |
| Fortuna | Mcclellan | 217 | Layoff | |
| Prospect International Airport Services | San Francisco | 177 | Closure | |
| National Express Transit | Modesto | 158 | Closure | |
| Ryder | Tracy | 132 | Closure | |
| Silgan Containers | Antioch | 131 | Temporary Layoff | |
| Silgan Containers | Riverbank | 131 | Layoff | |
| Flying Food Group | Inglewood | 123 | Layoff | |
| Flying Food Group | San Francisco | 123 | Layoff | |
| DHL Supply Chain | Santa Clara | 118 | Layoff | |
| Safran Cabin | Cypress | 93 | Closure | |
| Safran Cabin | Ontario | 93 | Closure | |
| Sun Distributing | Hawthorne | 84 | Closure | |
| Zymergen | Emeryville | 82 | Layoff |
The single largest action involved Kirkhill at its Brea facility, reporting 527 affected workers. Kirkhill followed with 527 workers.
Trend & Outlook
After a dip last month, layoff activity has ticked back up.
The data underscores a mixed picture for California's labor market, with activity diverging between monthly and annual comparisons. 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.