University of Southern California California Layoffs 2025: What Employees Should Know

What the filing says

These are the details as University of Southern Californiareported them to the state. The EDD publishes every notice, and these figures come from the state's report as retrieved on Aug 13, 2026. All 20 are listed below; the table scrolls.

How much notice the law requires

California's WARN Act requires 60 days of advance written notice before a covered mass layoff, and its only statutory exception is a physical calamity or an act of war — far narrower than federal law's three. Who is covered and how the thresholds are counted is in our California WARN Act guide.

University of Southern California severance: what to check before you sign

A severance offer is not the notice pay the WARN Act describes. Severance you were already promised — in a contract, a handbook, or a union agreement — cannot be used to satisfy that obligation, though Labor Code section 1402 does let an employer reduce a back-pay award by voluntary payments it was never required to make. A release may also give up more than you expect. Justin reviews severance agreements before workers sign. What to check before you decide is in our full guide to the California WARN Act.

Two things worth doing this week either way. File for unemployment now — WARN money does not reduce it, and the filings here run through Dec 31, 2025, so you do not have to wait for your last day. And keep every document, including the notice itself and anything showing when it arrived.

Questions people are asking

Where a layoff can raise a legal question

A layoff is lawful on its own, and nothing below is a statement about University of Southern California. These are the places California law can still come into play, depending on the facts of your own situation.

• The severance you were asked to signA release can give up claims you did not know you had, and the terms are sometimes negotiable.
• How you were selectedA reduction in force still cannot be used to cut someone for a protected reason such as age, disability, pregnancy, or a complaint they made.
• Your final paycheckCalifornia sets when final wages are due at termination, and unpaid time or accrued vacation can carry penalties on top of the wages.
• The length of the notice periodWhere a notice period turns out to fall short of what the law required, the question usually belongs to everyone in the same position rather than to one person.

General information about California law, not legal advice, and reading it does not create an attorney-client relationship.

What has been reported

Press coverage of this layoff, summarized and attributed. This is reporting rather than the filing itself, and we did not independently verify it.

USC began issuing layoff notices in July 2025 as it worked to close an operating deficit that exceeded $200 million in fiscal 2025, up from $158 million the year before. By early November the university had issued more than 900 notices across the university and its health system, including student academic advisers, the Los Angeles Times reported.

The largest single round covered 259 employees, with the first cuts effective in late October and the last by Dec. 31, 2025; notifications in that round began Aug. 18. Those roles were on USC's main Los Angeles campus and included student advisers, administrative assistants and other support staff, Higher Ed Dive reported.

Annenberg Media reported that earlier rounds had reached at least 692 layoffs by Oct. 3, 2025, spanning the Viterbi School of Engineering, the Rossier School of Education, the Keck School of Medicine and Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences, and affecting professors, adjunct and clinical instructors, academic program directors, student services advisors and SEIU-represented staff.

Sources: Los Angeles Times (via AOL) (opens in a new tab) · Higher Ed Dive (opens in a new tab) · Annenberg Media (opens in a new tab)

What the numbers show

• The 957 affected positions are in Los Angeles.
• They cover 13 separate addresses rather than a single site, so co-workers at different locations may have received different dates.
• The jobs do not all end on the same day. The filings list 9 separate last days of work, running from September 10, 2025 to December 31, 2025.
• At least one notice here is dated 9 days after the last day of work it reports. Notices are sometimes filed or amended after the fact, so this describes the paperwork rather than when anyone was told.
• Within Los Angeles County, this accounts for 5% of all workers covered by WARN notices on file, across 158 employers.
• By headcount it is the 7th-largest of the 599 employer layoffs tracked here.
• The 957 workers leaving University of Southern California re-enter a job market where Los Angeles County unemployment stood at 5.3% in June 2026, above the 5.2% statewide rate (Bureau of Labor Statistics, not seasonally adjusted).
• The filings arrived in 5 separate months between July 2025 and November 2025 — a rolling reduction rather than a single event. The heaviest was September 2025, when 7 notices covered 350 jobs.

These are counts and comparisons drawn from the published filings, not findings about University of Southern California.

Free job-search help near Los Angeles

America's Job Center of California is the state's no-cost network for laid-off workers: help filing and keeping unemployment benefits, federally funded retraining, and résumé and interview coaching. Your WARN notice may name one; these are the closest to the sites in these filings.

• Veterans AJCC (opens in a new tab)

  1816 S. Figueroa St., Los Angeles, CA 90015 · 626-375-6792

  Affiliate center (partial services) · about 1.3 miles from the Los Angeles site

• Boyle Heights WorkSource Center (opens in a new tab)

  1505 E. 1st Street, Los Angeles, CA 90033 · 323-267-5930

  Comprehensive center (full services on site) · about 1.3 miles from the Los Angeles site

• Northeast Los Angeles WorkSource Center (opens in a new tab)

  342 North San Fernando Road, Los Angeles, CA 90031 · 323-539-2000

  Comprehensive center (full services on site) · about 1.6 miles from the Los Angeles site

Locations and hours change — confirm before visiting, or find another center with the EDD's center locator (opens in a new tab). Directory: U.S. Department of Labor, Jul 31, 2026; distances are straight-line from the address in the filing.

Other layoffs filed in Los Angeles County around the same time

158 employers have WARN notices on file in Los Angeles County, covering 17,863 workers. These filed within about a quarter of this one.

• Republic National Distributing Company1,756 workers
• Oracle America, Inc.1,250 workers
• Adventist Health614 workers
• Children's Hospital Los Angeles439 workers
• Blue Shield of California433 workers
• Kaiser Foundation Hospitals345 workers

Listed because they appear in the same county in the same public data. No connection between these employers is implied.

California wage claims filed against University of Southern California

California employers face claims under the Private Attorneys General Act (PAGA), which lets an employee sue for civil penalties over Labor Code violations on behalf of the state. The state publishes every filing. 8 PAGA cases naming this employer are on that record, including the settlements below.

These are outcomes in other people’s cases, obtained by other lawyers, taken from the state’s public filing record. They are not results of this firm, and past results do not guarantee a similar outcome. What any individual recovers depends on their own hours, pay records, and dates.

• Proposed settlement · 2021

  $1,945,000

  Employees of the University of Southern California alleged they were not paid minimum and regular wages, overtime, and meal and rest break premiums, and that they received inaccurate wage statements and were not reimbursed for business expenses or provided sick leave. The employees filed PAGA claims on behalf of themselves and other aggrieved workers, seeking civil penalties. The parties have agreed to settle only the PAGA representative claims for a total of $1,945,000, with the employer denying any wrongdoing or liability.

  Covered All individuals who are or were employed by USC within the State of California between October 5, 2019 and the sooner of date the Court enters an order and judgment approving this settlement or February 28, 2022.. The settlement resolved PAGA civil penalties only.

  Attorneys' fees

  $648,333

  Superior Court of California, County of Los Angeles · 21STCV02075 · University of Southern California denied liability; a settlement is not an admission.

• Court-approved settlement · 2024

  $1,945,000

  Current and former non-exempt employees of the University of Southern California in California will receive a PAGA settlement for alleged Labor Code violations. The settlement resolves claims for penalties under the Private Attorneys General Act. The court approved the settlement and dismissed the action with prejudice.

  Covered All current and former non-exempt employees who are or were employed by USC within the State of California between October 5, 2019 and the sooner of date the Court enters an order and judgment approving this settlement or February 28, 2022. The settlement resolved PAGA civil penalties only.

  Employees covered

  29,000

  Attorneys' fees

  $648,333

  To the state (LWDA)

  $905,619

  Superior Court of the State of California, County of Los Angeles · 20STCV47290 · University of Southern California denied liability; a settlement is not an admission.

• Court-approved settlement · 2020

  $1,465,000

  Workers sued USC Verdugo Hills Hospital Foundation under California's Private Attorneys General Act. The court approved a PAGA settlement that pays attorneys' fees, costs, and administration expenses. The settlement resolves PAGA claims only, without admitting liability.

  Covered All individuals who are or were employed by USC as non- exempt employees within the State of California who received overtime or double - time compensation at least once between December 24 , 20 17 and August 31 , 2019. The settlement resolved PAGA civil penalties only.

  Employees covered

  11,672

  Attorneys' fees

  $488,333

  Superior Court of California, County of Los Angeles · 18STCV09463 · University of Southern California denied liability; a settlement is not an admission.

One further settlement is on the record for this employer.

A PAGA case is not a class action, and there is nothing to opt out of. A PAGA settlement resolves civil penalties owed to the state — most of which the state keeps — and it does not necessarily resolve your own unpaid wages, missed break premiums, or final-paycheck penalties. If you worked here and were not paid correctly, that is a separate question worth asking about. How California wage claims work.