Employers in California filed 271 WARN Act notices in April 2023, impacting roughly 18,455 workers — representing a notable rise over March and up 244% versus April 2022. The average filing covered 68 workers, with 55 closures among the notices.
| Industry | Notices | Workers |
|---|---|---|
| Transportation | 10 | 1,163 |
| Retail | 4 | 1,105 |
| Arts & Entertainment | 2 | 1,018 |
| Information & Technology | 8 | 643 |
| Healthcare | 16 | 527 |
| Manufacturing | 5 | 279 |
| Professional Services | 1 | 102 |
| Finance & Insurance | 1 | 87 |
The Transportation sector led the way in workforce reductions with 1,163 workers across 10 notices. In a parallel development, Retail reported 1,105 workers.
| County | Notices | Workers |
|---|---|---|
| Los Angeles | 46 | 4,272 |
| San Francisco | 27 | 2,439 |
| San Diego | 54 | 2,311 |
| Santa Clara | 21 | 2,151 |
| San Mateo | 38 | 1,554 |
Los Angeles was the epicenter of layoff activity, accounting for 23% of all affected workers with 4,272 workers across 46 notices.
| City | Notices | Workers |
|---|---|---|
| Chino | 1 | 953 |
| Los Angeles | 3 | 620 |
| 4022 E. Conant Street Long Beach | 1 | 603 |
| San Diego | 6 | 457 |
| San Francisco | 9 | 432 |
| Type | Notices | Workers |
|---|---|---|
| Layoff | 216 | 14,058 |
| Closure | 53 | 3,834 |
| Temporary Closure | 2 | 563 |
Closures accounted for 24% of affected workers, while the majority of filings were layoffs rather than permanent shutdowns.
| Company | City | Workers | Type | Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Walmart | Chino | 953 | Layoff | 2023-04-07 |
| Virgin Orbit, LLC | 4022 E. Conant Street Long Beach | 603 | Layoff | 2023-04-18 |
| Cushman&WakefieldU.S.Inc.-MarineWay | 594 | Layoff | 2023-04-27 | |
| Gap, Inc | 569 | Layoff | 2023-04-27 | |
| HollywoodPalladium,asubsidiaryofLiveNationEntertainment,Inc | 509 | Temporary Closure | 2023-04-01 | |
| Hollywood Palladium, a subsidiary of Live Nation Entertainment, Inc | Los Angeles | 509 | Closure | 2023-04-17 |
| Lyft, Inc | 383 | Layoff | 2023-04-27 | |
| Cepheid | 343 | Layoff | 2023-04-11 | |
| Cepheid | Sunnyvale | 343 | Layoff | 2023-04-25 |
| First Transit | 241 | Layoff | 2023-04-04 | |
| First Transit | 1717 E. Via Burton Anaheim | 241 | Layoff | 2023-04-21 |
| Cepheid | 222 | Layoff | 2023-04-11 | |
| Cepheid | Newark B2 facility Newark | 222 | Layoff | 2023-04-25 |
| Dropbox, Inc | 182 | Layoff | 2023-04-27 | |
| First Transit | 181 | Layoff | 2023-04-04 |
The single largest action involved Walmart at its Chino facility, reporting 953 affected workers. Virgin Orbit, LLC followed with 603 workers.
After a dip last month, layoff activity has ticked back up.
The data underscores mounting pressure on the California labor market, with activity running above both recent and year-ago benchmarks. The Transportation 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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