California Layoffs — January 2023

Employers in California reported 280 WARN Act notices in January 2023, displacing an estimated 14,156 workers — signaling an acceleration from December and up 300% versus January 2022. The average filing covered 51 workers, with 77 closures among the notices.

Industry Breakdown

The Manufacturing sector topped the list of affected industries with 3,689 workers across 63 notices. Notably, Healthcare reported 2,796 workers.

Geographic Hotspots

Santa Clara absorbed the greatest share of layoffs, accounting for 17% of all affected workers with 2,419 workers across 50 notices.

Layoff Type Analysis

Closures accounted for 30% of affected workers, while the majority of filings were layoffs rather than permanent shutdowns.

Largest Layoffs

The most significant filing came from Madera Community Hospital at its Chowchilla facility, reporting 687 affected workers. Salesforce followed with 650 workers.

Trend & Outlook

After a dip last month, layoff activity has ticked back up.

The numbers illustrate 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.