California employers filed 152 WARN notices covering 7,099 workers in September 2026, according to the official WARN report published by the state’s Employment Development Department (EDD). That is the highest monthly total since the state’s current report began on July 1, 2026: up from 4,856 workers in August and 4,569 in July. A single notice from Covenant Aviation Security accounted for 1,279 of those workers.
Live tracker: every tech layoff announced in 2026, with the company’s own numbers and a link to the source, is in our Tech Layoff Tracker 2026.
September 2026 at a glance (California, by EDD processed date)
- 152 WARN notices, 7,099 workers affected
- +46% workers compared with August (4,856)
- 22 notices of 100 or more workers made up 4,998 workers, about 70% of the total
- Largest notice: Covenant Aviation Security, 1,279 workers in San Francisco County
- Top industry: manufacturing, 2,914 workers in 30 notices
Below we break down the September notices by company, county, industry and type of layoff. All figures come from the EDD file; you can see every notice, updated twice a day, in our California WARN notices tracker.
How many layoffs were reported in California in September 2026?
The EDD processed 152 notices in September, 50 more than in August. The workers covered rose to 7,099. The current EDD report runs from July 1 to October 6, 2026 and totals 16,885 workers, so September alone represents 42% of the fiscal year so far.
A WARN notice is a warning, not a final count. Under the California WARN Act, covered employers generally have to give 60 days’ notice before a mass layoff, relocation or closure, so most of the September notices list effective dates in November and December 2026. Our guide to layoff notice requirements by state explains who has to file and when.
Which companies filed the largest WARN notices in September?
We grouped notices filed by the same company for different sites. Twelve employers reported 140 or more workers each:
| Company | County | Workers | Notices | Type | Effective |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Covenant Aviation Security | San Francisco | 1,279 | 1 | Permanent layoff | Nov 30 |
| Dreyer’s Grand Ice Cream and Randstad Inhouse Services (Dreyer’s) | Kern, Tulare | 958 | 4 | Temporary closure | Nov 19 to Nov 22 |
| Oracle | San Mateo, Santa Clara, Alameda | 441 | 3 | Permanent layoff | Nov 13 |
| Uber Technologies | San Francisco, Santa Clara | 390 | 4 | Permanent layoff | Nov 2 |
| Renewal by Andersen | Los Angeles, Orange | 284 | 3 | Permanent layoff | Nov 2 |
| IPS Nationwide | Alameda, Orange | 262 | 2 | Permanent layoff | Nov 17 |
| PayPal | Santa Clara | 251 | 1 | Permanent layoff | Oct 30 |
| Sapporo U.S.A. | San Diego | 212 | 3 | Permanent closure | Nov 13 |
| Amy’s Kitchen | Sonoma | 200 | 1 | Permanent closure | Dec 18 |
| Foundation for California Community Colleges | Sacramento | 178 | 1 | Permanent layoff | Oct 30 |
| Ruiz Food Products | Tulare | 176 | 1 | Permanent layoff | Nov 4 |
| Workday | Alameda | 142 | 1 | Permanent layoff | Nov 30 |
Source: EDD Detailed WARN Report, notices processed September 1 to 30, 2026. Effective dates are the first date listed by the employer.
Three patterns stand out:
- One notice, one fifth of the month. Covenant Aviation Security’s notice covers 1,279 workers at an address in ZIP code 94128, the ZIP code of San Francisco International Airport. On its own it is 18% of all California workers in September notices.
- Temporary closures in the Central Valley. Dreyer’s Grand Ice Cream and the staffing company Randstad Inhouse Services, which lists Dreyer’s in its notice name, filed four temporary closure notices for sites in Bakersfield and Tulare covering 958 workers. A temporary closure is not reported as a permanent job loss.
- Tech in the Bay Area. Oracle (441 workers in Redwood City, Santa Clara and Pleasanton), Uber (390 in San Francisco and Sunnyvale), PayPal (251 in San Jose) and Workday (142 in Pleasanton) together filed 1,224 workers’ worth of notices. See our tech layoffs 2026 coverage for context.
Which California counties had the most layoffs?
| County | Workers | Notices |
|---|---|---|
| San Francisco | 1,532 | 3 |
| Los Angeles | 1,102 | 87 |
| Kern | 700 | 3 |
| Santa Clara | 651 | 9 |
| Alameda | 609 | 9 |
| Tulare | 487 | 3 |
| San Mateo | 399 | 3 |
| San Diego | 323 | 7 |
| Orange | 250 | 6 |
| Sonoma | 200 | 1 |
Top 10 counties by workers affected. Source: EDD WARN report, September 2026.
Los Angeles County had by far the most notices, 87 of 152, but they were small: together they cover about 16% of the month’s workers. Twenty-five of them come from the property manager Levine Management Group, which filed 28 notices in total (three more in Ventura County) covering 67 workers, most of them for one or two workers each and with the layoff type “not known at this time”. Without them, September still has 124 notices and 7,032 workers.
Which industries were affected?
| Industry (as listed by the EDD) | Workers | Notices |
|---|---|---|
| Manufacturing | 2,914 | 30 |
| Administrative and support services | 2,186 | 38 |
| Health care and social assistance | 472 | 24 |
| Finance and insurance | 270 | 3 |
| Educational services | 243 | 11 |
| Information | 228 | 2 |
| Accommodation and food services | 210 | 2 |
Manufacturing accounts for 41% of the workers. Note that the EDD assigns one industry per notice: Oracle’s three notices, for example, are listed under manufacturing, and Uber’s under administrative and support services.
Permanent layoffs, closures and temporary cuts
- Permanent layoffs: 95 notices, 4,637 workers
- Temporary closures: 8 notices, 1,209 workers
- Permanent closures: 18 notices, 1,166 workers
- Layoff type not known: 31 notices, 87 workers
Most notices are small: 113 of the 152 cover fewer than 50 workers. The 22 notices of 100 or more workers explain about 70% of the total.
Live California WARN data
The chart and table below update automatically from the EDD file, so they will include notices filed after this report.
Sum of workers listed in WARN notices, by the month the state received or processed them, starting from July 2026, the first full month of data we hold. The current month is incomplete and shown lighter. Source: official state WARN notices.
| # | Company | Workers affected | Notices |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Covenant Aviation Security, LLC | 1,279 | 1 |
| 2 | Randstad Inhouse Services, LLC (Dreyer's) | 516 | 2 |
| 3 | Dreyer's Grand Ice Cream | 442 | 2 |
| 4 | Oracle America, Inc. | 378 | 2 |
| 5 | IPS Nationwide, Inc. | 262 | 2 |
| 6 | Amy's Kitchen, LLC | 200 | 1 |
| 7 | Sapporo U.S.A. (1999 Citracado Parkway) | 200 | 1 |
| 8 | Uber Technologies, Inc. - 1655 3rd Street | 151 | 1 |
| 9 | Neogen Care Home Health Agency | 148 | 1 |
| 10 | Workday Inc. | 142 | 1 |
For other states, see the WARN notices tracker and Washington WARN notices. For national figures, see US layoffs statistics from the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
What to do if your employer is on the list
- Check the effective date in the notice: it is the earliest date the job cuts can take effect.
- Read our guide on how to negotiate severance before you sign anything.
- Plan your health coverage: see how long insurance lasts after a layoff.
- You can apply for unemployment insurance through the California EDD once your job ends.
Frequently asked questions
How many layoffs were there in California in September 2026?
The California EDD processed 152 WARN notices in September 2026, covering 7,099 workers. It is the highest monthly total in the EDD report that began on July 1, 2026.
Which company had the largest layoff in California in September 2026?
Covenant Aviation Security filed the largest notice: 1,279 workers in San Francisco County, with a permanent layoff effective November 30, 2026.
Where does California WARN data come from?
From the Employment Development Department, which publishes a WARN report in Excel format that it updates every Tuesday and Thursday. GoLayoffs reads that file twice a day and publishes it in the California WARN notices tracker.
Does a WARN notice mean the jobs are already gone?
No. A WARN notice announces a planned layoff or closure, usually 60 days in advance. The effective date in the notice is when the cuts are scheduled to start, and plans can still change.
Methodology and sources
We used the EDD Detailed WARN Report, file covering July 1 to October 6, 2026, and counted notices by the date the EDD processed them (the same date the EDD uses to filter its report). Company totals add up notices filed by the same employer for different sites. We did not add any estimate: every number in this article is in the EDD file.
- California Employment Development Department, WARN Report and Detailed WARN Report (xlsx)
- GoLayoffs, California WARN notices tracker