Here are the mass layoffs in Sacramento since the COVID-19 shutdown hit California
The COVID-19 layoffs keep coming, weeks after Gov. Gavin Newsom’s stay-at-home order effectively closed most of California’s economy.
Hundreds of Sacramento-area workers were part of mass layoffs at their jobs in recent weeks, according to a review of the WARN Act notices filed with the state in April. The public mass-layoff notices, required by law, provide yet another glimpse of how much the area’s economy has suffered since the coronavirus pandemic struck.
In the Sacramento region, the layoffs hit gambling houses, well-known retail stores and dealerships, and some health care companies.
Folsom Lake Toyota laid off 110 while Serrano County Club in El Dorado Hills cut 93 jobs., the filings show. Hunter Douglas, the maker of window treatments, laid off 99 at its facility in West Sacramento. Parkwest Casino, a cardroom in Rancho Cordova, trimmed 98 jobs.
CarMax dealerships in Sacramento and Roseville furloughed a combined 439 workers, although the company said in a statement Friday that some associates have been called back at reopened stores. Burlington Coat Factory outlets in the region laid off 155. Western Dental Services lopped 247 jobs, while VSP Global, the vision insurer and eyeglass maker based in Rancho Cordova, laid off 315 workers at its Folsom facility.
The list continues: Forever 21 in Sacramento and Roseville, 207 jobs combined. Arden Hills Country Club, 158 jobs. Iron Mechanical, a Sacramento construction contractor, 88 jobs. Core Power Yoga of Sacramento, 31 jobs.
Ruth’s Chris Steakhouse — whose parent company sparked controversy by securing a Small Business Administration bailout loan — laid off 61 workers in Sacramento. The company returned the $20 million loan.
In the meantime, the WARN Act filings show how widely the economic misery has spread throughout California in recent weeks. Legoland, the theme park in San Diego County, let go 1,180 workers. Aramark, the food concessionaire at Yosemite National Park, laid off 1,828. The Oakland A’s cut 796 employees.
Citing WARN Act filings, the San Jose Mercury News reported that Bay Area employers laid off 69,000 workers in April.
The WARN Act requires employers with at least 75 employees to give employees a 60-day warning before imposing layoffs. Newsom has suspended the 60-day provision in most cases, but employers are still filing the notices with the state.
Coronavirus shutdown prompts 30 million layoffs
The notices don’t tell the whole story of the economic pain from COVID-19, however.
The U.S. Labor Department said Thursday that more than 30 million Americans have filed for unemployment the past six weeks. State figures show more than 3.4 million Californians have lost their jobs.
Officially, the unemployment rate has risen only to 5.3 percent statewide, and 4.7 percent in greater Sacramento, but those figures represent a snapshot from the beginning of the crisis in mid-March. Most economists believe the true unemployment rate is in the 20 percent range. The figures for April, which will likely provide a more accurate picture of unemployment, won’t be released for another two weeks.
Newsom has come under increasing pressure from local officials, especially in rural counties, to ease or rescind his March 19 order. He has resisted those pleas and urged Californians to remain patient.
“If you hold the line, we’re going to get through this,” Newsom said Thursday, adding that the restrictions could be loosened significantly in a few weeks.
This story was updated with information from CarMax.
This story was originally published April 30, 2020 at 3:46 PM.