Many things surprise me about the nation’s economy under the second Trump administration, yet this trend might be the most startling.

My trusty spreadsheet compared the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ state-by-state job counts for the first quarter of 2026 with the previous year. That’s basically Donald Trump’s first year back in the White House.

During that time, California employers added 128,600 workers, more than any other state. The rest of the country added just 11,700.

Yes, hiring in the much-maligned California business climate equaled 92% of the nation’s job creation in the past year. Or roughly 10 times more than the rest of America.

Let’s note the No. 2 state for employment growth was Texas at 96,300, followed by North Carolina at 40,300, Nevada at 31,700 and Pennsylvania at 24,000.

At the same time, 25 states actually lost jobs.

The loser list was topped by Maryland (off 49,100), District of Columbia (off 42,600) and Virginia (off 33,100) – dips tied to Trump’s trimming of federal workers – then Florida (off 30,600) and Oregon (off 20,100).

Which economic guru saw this coming? Now, California doubters might suggest the Golden State’s success is largely about size.

It’s true, California’s job market is huge, with 18.1 million workers—the largest in the country and 11% of all U.S. jobs. Texas is next with 14.4 million, then New York and Florida with 10 million each, and Pennsylvania with 6.2 million.

But even considering California’s size, its workers are having a better start to 2026 than most Americans.

This California job creation equals an 0.7% one-year growth rate, the fourth-fastest pace among the states and far quicker than the nation’s meek 0.1% expansion.

Nevada led with 2% job growth, while South Carolina and North Carolina both grew by 0.8%. The biggest drops were in the District of Columbia, down 5.6%, Maryland down 1.7%, Iowa down 1.2%, Oregon down 1.0%, and New Hampshire down 0.8%.

Under-appreciated

Why does the Golden State see such an unexpected employment bump?

My guess is that it’s partly about the under-appreciated flexibility in the California economy. Bosses and workers are used to the ups and downs of business cycles.

So far, the clash between Trump’s “America First” policies and California’s global outlook hasn’t caused major problems.

In addition, despite all the chatter about California shrinking its technology clout, the state remains the epicenter of this job-creating machine. And tech’s latest hotspot – artificial intelligence – is being pioneered in the Golden State.

Nothing new

A resilient and expanding job market is nothing new for California. Let’s look back a decade.

Since the first quarter of 2016, California bosses added 1.8 million workers, or 12% of the nation’s 14.6 million jobs.

Only Texas added more jobs, with 2.4 million. Florida followed with 1.7 million, then North Carolina with 758,000, and Georgia with 651,100.

Over the past ten years, only three places lost jobs: the District of Columbia lost 53,600, Vermont lost 900, and Hawaii lost 100.

Even in percentage terms, California job creation was noteworthy. The 11% increase ranked 14th-best among the states and topped the nation’s 10% growth.

Yes, others grew far faster: Idaho (up 28%), Utah (up 26%), Nevada (up 25%), Arizona (up 22%) – and arch-rivals Florida and Texas, both up 20%.

This employment growth is more than bragging rights for California.

It helps explain trends that might otherwise seem odd — from stubbornly lofty home prices and rents to the state government’s recently strong tax collections to why freeways are jammed while a supposed “exodus” of residents continues.

Troublesome trend

This state-level scorecard hides a troublesome trend in early 2026. The job market is weak nationwide.

While California’s 128,600 new workers in the first quarter top the nation, compared with the start of 2025, it’s 29% below the state’s average job creation of 181,300 per year since 2016.

Still, California’s slowdown is minor compared to the rest of the country. The rest of the U.S. added just 11,700 jobs, which is 99% below the usual 1.3 million per year.

It’s no wonder people are worried about their finances.

Jonathan Lansner is the business columnist for the Southern California News Group. He can be reached at jlansner@scng.com

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“Due to unforeseen business circumstances, TeamOne was recently informed that the owner and operator of the facility had made the decision to end its staffing agreement with TeamOne and thus, the job assignments of TeamOne’s employees at its location,” Frank Moran, president and chief executive officer of TeamOne, said in a Monday letter filed with the state’s Employment Development Department.

As a staffing agency, TeamOne does not own or operate the factory store or an adjacent warehouse, but provides temporary workers to Manhattan Beach-based Skechers USA Inc. — the owner of the massive warehouse and factory store complex off the 60 Freeway in Moreno Valley.

The Skechers factory store is located at 29800 Eucalyptus Ave.

Moran, who could not be reached for comment, wrote that his company was notified by Skechers that it was no longer needed to supply temporary workers on May 14.

“Regardless, this event is anticipated to affect employees currently staffed by TeamOne at these locations,” he said. “Accordingly, while TeamOne does not believe it has a legal obligation to provide this notice, it does so out of an abundance of caution.”

Skechers spokesperson Jennifer Clay did not respond to requests for comment.

It’s unclear how many workers remain at the factory store, or why the layoffs were made.

All TeamOne employees were notified this week of the layoffs, effective June 13, according to the filing made as part of the federal Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act. Such notices are required when an employer lays off more than 50 employees. All affected employees are notified at least 60 days before their terminations are scheduled to occur.

The jobs listed in the EDD layoff notice include 309 material handlers, 231 equipment operators, 145 processors, 29 in housekeeping services, nine in clerical warehousing and two maintenance mechanics.

Construction on the Skechers shoe distribution center began in 2010 with expectations that it would eventually bring 2,400 jobs to the 200-acre Highland Fairview Corporate Park in Moreno Valley. The distribution center, larger than 40 football fields and more than a half-mile from end-to-end, had about 600 people working there in 2012, according to a Press-Enterprise report.

As of Monday, a Skechers career website advertised for 20 jobs at the Moreno Valley warehouse.

By 2019, plans were approved by the Moreno Valley City Council to expand the 1.8-million-square-foot Skechers complex by nearly half.

In September 2025, Skechers changed ownership hands when New York-based investment firm 3G Capital paid $9.4 billion to buy Skechers in a go-private deal, the largest buyout in footwear history.

The company, which no longer trades on the New York Stock Exchange, is the third-largest footwear company in the world and operates more than 5,300 retail stores.

Well, maybe it’s because these commentators don’t have to worry about their paychecks.

Take the latest widespread upbeat spin on the nation’s job market. April’s numbers – bosses added 115,000 workers, adjusted for seasonal swings – were seen by many economic gurus as a surprising increase amid a war with Iran and its resulting ballooning energy costs.

April’s jobs bump also was hailed for topping the gurus’ consensus estimate of job growth, a gap that might be more a critique of so-called “expert” analytical skills than of improved employment patterns.

Yet when my trusty spreadsheet reviewed 50 years’ worth of U.S. monthly employment data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, it found some anxiety-building trends.

Yes, three of the 2026’s first four months had job creation of more than 100,000. That’s modestly encouraging only because it followed an eight-month streak of fewer than 100,000 new jobs.

Those eight months were the longest period of monthly employment creation less than six figures since a 26-month drought that ended in February 2010 during the Great Recession.

When were other notable sub-100,000 job creation streaks in the past half-century?

There was the 21-month streak that ended in September 2002 – surrounding the 9/11 terror attacks and the dot-com stock collapse.

Also, an 11-month streak ended in March 1992 as the economy was digesting the other oil-price shock and a collapse in regional real estate, notably in California.

So, we’ve been in ugly job market territory. Consider recent job creation on a historical scale.

April’s 115,000 job creation was 7% off the 124,000-a-month average over the past 10 years; a period that included the pandemic workforce swings.

Or with a much longer-term lens, you see that April was 13% below the 50-year average of 132,400.

Skittish survey

These dour trends align with what economically skittish Americans told pollsters who create the Conference Board’s consumer confidence index.

The economic expectations score for 2026’s first four months was 17% below average.

One reason is 22% of people polled see a worse business climate ahead; well above the average 14% since 2000.

And jobs prospects? The poll found 27% expect fewer jobs versus 19% historically.

Unnerved employers

The feeble U.S. job creation spooking consumers is the byproduct of numerous factors.

For starters, the Trump administration’s unorthodox economic policies are unnerving some employers.

For example, President Donald Trump’s tariff policy has raised the prices of certain imported goods, posing challenges for employers who use or sell them. Then there’s Trump’s anti-immigration push that’s made staffing headaches even tougher in numerous industries.

And it’s more than the White House.

Do not overlook stubbornly high interest rates, which depress the work of businesses dependent on cheap financing.

Plus, the corporate adoption of artificial intelligence is beginning to trim certain employers’ need for workers.

Long-term laggard

Let’s agree that one month is no trend. So, we will ponder 12-month trends.

Think about how many jobs were created during the past year; the period following Trump’s April 2025 announcement of “Liberation Day” and the start of tariff battles with other nations.

American bosses added just 251,000 workers during the past 12 months.

How slow is that?

That’s just 17% of the 1.48 million-a-year pace of the past 10 years. It’s also 16% of the 1.59 million annual average, dating to 1976.

So, Americans have plenty of reasons to worry about their paychecks. The past year’s job creation was one-sixth of what’s normal.

Jonathan Lansner is the business columnist for the Southern California News Group. He can be reached at jlansner@scng.com.

The facility’s closure in Long Beach will be permanent by the end of the year, with a combination of layoffs and an unspecified number of people getting moved to other facilities beginning in phases on July 6, wrote Evonne Mitchell, a human resources executive with Mercedes-Benz Research & Development, in a May 7 filing with the state’s Employment Development Department.

The technology center in Long Beach, which has focused on testing and driver-assistance systems and serves as a hub for advanced manufacturing and engineering, has developed nearly 100 technology patents, according to the company.

At the end of December, the German-based automaker said there were 186 employees working in Long Beach.

Neither Mitchell nor a company spokesman responded to questions on the job count disparity.

A company spokesman who asked not to be named said the 72 employees were presented with either a relocation or a severance package, while certain employees were only offered severance packages based on business and operational needs. He declined to comment further.

A year ago, Mercedes-Benz announced plans to make Atlanta as its North America headquarters, paving the way to move some jobs to Georgia from other company locations.

According to the Georgia Department of Economic Development, around 500 jobs would be moved from other parts of the U.S. to an already established facility in the northern Atlanta suburb of Sandy Springs.

Mitchell wrote in her letter filed with the EDD that workers were offered arrangements to move to Georgia, Michigan, or at another company facility in California — though the “majority of its Long Beach” operations would go to Atlanta.

Mercedes-Benz also operates research facilities in Carlsbad, San Jose, Ann Arbor, Michigan and Farmington Hills, Michigan.

The 14-year-old Long Beach operation along Via Oro Avenue was the largest of the five research facilities in the U.S. — with 17 workers in Carlsbad, 185 in San Jose, 142 in Farmington Hills and 45 in Ann Arbor.

The jobs listed in the EDD layoff notice include engineers, lawyers, quality assurance testers, technicians and project managers.

The filing was made as part of the federal Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act, which is required when an employer lays off more than 50 employees. All affected employees are notified at least 60 days before their terminations are scheduled to occur.

Mercedes-Benz established the center in 2014 when it consolidated its Southern California operations into a former Boeing Co. plane factory.

The auto sector is shifting quickly in Southern California.

After investing billions in electric vehicle development, automakers have been scrambling to regain their footing after the Trump administration eliminated incentives to stimulate growth in the sector. Many of the EV makers are pivoting to hybrids as they reimagine production lines in the U.S., with Georgia becoming a hub for Rivian, Kia and Hyundai and others.

The Irvine-based EV maker Rivian is building a multibillion-dollar manufacturing plant near Stanton Springs in Georgia, where the company has said it will create 7,500 jobs.

Toyota is making significant EV investments through its Toyota Industries Electric Systems North America operation in Pendergrass, Georgia, while Hyundai is expanding its Georgia footprint by investing $21 billion through 2028 to build EVs and other autos.

Last July, the longtime home of Ford Motor Co’s Design Studios in Irvine began shutting down as it shifted work to a new electric vehicle development hub in Long Beach.

The once-secretive skunkworks project has grown into a 350-person team in a 270,000-square-foot facility near the Long Beach Airport.

The company is developing an electric pickup truck scheduled for launch next year.

My trusty spreadsheet reviewed employment data from the state Employment Development Department for March, focusing on seasonally adjusted job counts for six local counties. That stats show local bosses employed 9.92 million workers in March.

That translates to Southern California jobs increasing by 43,400 in a year. However, job creation averaged a 126,500 annual pace since 2010. So March’s growth was 66% below the historic pace.

Contrast that job creation with the rest of California. Those 8.23 million workers represented an all-time high, after a 101,300 increase in a year. That growth compares to a 121,600 historic annual pace since 2010, or 17% lower.

Bosses have become cautious about staffing for numerous reasons. There’s the unconventional economic policies of the Trump administration and the ongoing Iranian war. Of course, California’s own business headaches contribute to the hiring slowdown.

Plus, the immigration crackdown has also made a labor shortage in certain industries worse, another limit on the growth of employment.

The U.S. job growth slowdown was even steeper. The nation’s 158.6 million workers in March was up only 260,000 in a year vs. the 1.85 million average annual pace since 2010. That’s a 86% decline.

Here is how Southern California’s major job markets compared in March, ranked by one-year employment change:

– Los Angeles County: 4.61 million workers, up 25,000 in a year vs. 44,300 annual pace since 2010. That’s 44% lower.

– San Diego County: 1.58 million workers, an all-time high, up 13,300 in a year vs. 21,400 annual pace since 2010. That’s 38% lower.

– Inland Empire 1.73 million workers, up 10,900 in a year vs. 37,300 annual pace since 2010. That’s 71% lower.

– Ventura County: 317,000 workers, off 2,000 in a year vs. 2,800 annual increases since 2010. That’s the third-straight decline.

– Orange County: 1.69 million workers, off 3,800 in a year vs. 20,700 annual increases since 2010. That’s the seventh-straight decline.

Jonathan Lansner is the business columnist for the Southern California News Group. He can be reached at jlansner@scng.com

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Bloomberg

Meta Platforms and Microsoft are planning cuts or announcing buyouts that could affect as many as 23,000 jobs, part of an effort to streamline operations and offset heavy spending on artificial intelligence.

Meta told personnel in an internal memo on Thursday that it planned to cut 10% of workers, or roughly 8,000 employees, starting on May 20. The social-media company also said it wouldn’t fill 6,000 open roles.

Meta, which owns Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp, employed more than 78,000 people at the end of 2025. Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg has said he expects much of the work done in the technology industry to eventually be overtaken by AI powered systems, including coding assistants that help engineers write software.

Earlier in the day, Microsoft issued its own memo offering voluntary buyouts to thousands of its US employees. About 7% of the U.S. workforce will be eligible for the buyouts, according to a person familiar with the planning. The company has never previously done buyouts of this scale, said the person, who requested anonymity to discuss an internal matter.

Microsoft had 125,000 employees in the U.S. as of June 2025. That would make about 8,750 workers eligible for the program.

Big tech companies have been looking for ways to trim their expenses as they pour billions into data centers and other infrastructure to meet demand for AI services.

Microsoft is racing to construct data centers around the world and this month announced new AI investments in Japan and Australia. Meta, meanwhile, has projected record capital expenditures this year and has announced several multibillion-dollar deals with AI partners over the past few months. Both companies have instituted several rounds of layoffs in recent years.

Meta alluded to its AI spending in the memo, which was written by Janelle Gale, chief people officer. “We’re doing this as part of our continued effort to run the company more efficiently and to allow us to offset the other investments we’re making,” she wrote in the note, which was reviewed by Bloomberg.

Meta employees have spent much of the year fretting about job cuts, which already hit the Reality Labs division and other teams. Gale said that the company was announcing the layoffs early since details of the plan had already leaked. Reuters first reported on Meta’s planned workforce reductions earlier this month.

“I know this is unwelcome news and confirming this puts everyone in an uneasy state, but we feel this is the best path forward, given the circumstances,” Gale wrote.

Microsoft’s buyout program is being offered to workers whose years of service plus their age totals 70 or more, excluding some senior roles or those on sales incentive plans, according to the memo from Chief People Officer Amy Coleman.

“I’ve never seen the company move with this level of urgency and pace, and I see the intensity and agility you bring every day,” Coleman wrote in the memo, which was reviewed by Bloomberg. “To sustain this pace, we have to stay focused on doing great work, trusting and empowering our managers and simplifying to support everyone.”

Both companies are scheduled to report quarterly earnings on April 29.

The New York Times contributed to this report.

My trusty spreadsheet reviewed January employment stats for five Southern California metropolitan areas, dating back to 2010, that were released by the state Employment Development Department on Friday, April 17. The data is adjusted for seasonal fluctuations.

The figures show local bosses employed 9.94 million in January, up 65,500 in a year – or a gain of 0.7%. However, that job creation looks modest by historical standards.

The one-year increase equals the fastest job-creation pace since May 2025. But it’s also 48% below the 125,700 average annual employment growth seen during the past 16 years.

Local bosses have been wary of adding staff as the business climate wavers amid challenges such as the Trump administration’s tariffs and immigration crackdowns, stubbornly high interest rates and inflation, and weak consumer confidence. January’s uncertainties do not include any business upheaval after the Iranian conflict began in late March.

New jobs are also hard to find across the rest of California. Those bosses had 8.21 million jobs in January, representing a 65,700-year gain – or 0.8%. This job creation was 46% below the 120,600 16-year average.

Nationally speaking, note that California overall added 131,200 workers in the past year – the largest job creation among the states for January.

Locally speaking

The job additions were not universal across Southern California. See how it varied, ranked by one-year employment change …

– Los Angeles County: 4,621,400 jobs, up 38,400 in a year – or a gain of 0.8%. This job creation is 13% below the 44,100 16-year average.

– Inland Empire: 1,731,500 jobs, up 19,100 in a year – or a gain of 1.1%. Job creation is 48% below the 36,500 16-year average.

– San Diego County: 1,576,200 jobs, up 7,800 in a year – or a gain of 0.5%. Job creation is 64% below the 21,500 16-year average.

– Ventura County: 319,300 jobs, up 200 in a year – or a gain of 0.1%. Job creation is 93% below the 2,900 16-year average.

– Orange County: 1,692,900 jobs, flat during the year vs. historic job creation of 20,700 since 2010.

Jonathan Lansner is the business columnist for the Southern California News Group. He can be reached at jlansner@scng.com

If I had written, as Donald Trump was being inaugurated for his second presidential term in January 2025, that California would have the nation’s best job market in the following year, you might have questioned my sanity.

Trump’s “America First” economic policies – including trade-choking tariffs and a harsh immigration crackdown – don’t seem to be a good mix with California’s globally oriented business climate. This new administration’s philosophy only adds to the numerous challenges California employers face on a day-to-day basis.

But ponder the surprising results my trusty spreadsheet found when reviewing a new Bureau of Labor Statistics report on state-level job markets for January 2026 – 12 months after Trump’s second term began.

As a reminder, consider the Golden State’s paycheck-creating heft. California’s 18.2 million jobs in January were No. 1 among states, accounting for 11% of the nation’s 159 million jobs. Next comes Texas at 14.4 million, New York and Florida at 10 million and Pennsylvania at 6.2 million.

By this math – seasonally adjusted, by the way – California bosses added 93,500 jobs in January over December. That’s No. 1 among the states and 26% of the nation’s combined 356,800 job additions. Next was Texas at 40,100, New York at 23,800, Florida at 21,400 and Illinois at 18,000.

Six states lost jobs for the month. That’s a modest number, given that the average month has seen 16 states with job losses since 1990.

January’s largest declines were in the District of Columbia, down 5,400; Idaho, down 2,400; Mississippi, down 800; South Dakota, down 700; and Wyoming, down 300.

Percentage points

But even considering California’s vast job market, the state’s employment picture looked impressive on a percentage basis.

January’s 0.5% growth for California was No. 1 among the states. That’s only the third month since 1990 that California had the nation’s fastest job-growth pace – July 1999 and April 2016 were the others.

Additionally, the Golden State’s January bump was more than double the nation’s 0.2% growth.

Next was North Dakota, up 0.47%, and Iowa, Hawaii and New Hampshire, up 0.4%. Worst? District of Columbia, off 0.7%; Idaho, off 0.3%; and South Dakota, Wyoming and Mississippi, down 0.1%.

A longer view

Next, ponder the 12 months since Inauguration Day.

California added 131,200 jobs in the year that ended in January, also No. 1 among the states, accounting for 39% of the nation’s 340,700. Next was Texas at 112,200, New York at 45,300, North Carolina at 41,900 and Pennsylvania at 35,500.

Somewhat distressing at the national level were the 24 states that experienced job market dips over the past year. Since 1990, an average month has had 10 states with a year’s worth of decreased employment,

January’s biggest 12-month losses were in Maryland, down 49,300; D.C., down 45,300; Florida, down 20,600; Virginia, down 19,800; and Oregon, down 18,600. Trump’s slashing of federal jobs was clearly part of the declines in Maryland, D.C. and Virginia.

California’s 0.7% growth rate for the year ranked ninth-highest among the states. Since 1990, California has ranked worse 79% of the time.

Contemplate that the Golden State’s one-year upswing was also more than quadruple the nation’s 0.2% job-creation pace.

No. 1 was Nevada, up 1.9%, then South Carolina at 1.3%, Missouri and Arkansas at 0.9% and North Carolina at 0.8%.

Largest declines? D.C., off 5.9%; Maryland, off 1.7%; Iowa, off 1%; Oregon, off 0.9%; and New Hampshire, off 0.7%.

The big picture

Let’s take January results as a curious window into the state of the economy in early 2026.

For starters, California businesses tend to be entrepreneurial and resilient. Enterprises that can survive the many hurdles the state government produces may find national business upheaval just part of the routine.

Also, the early days of the artificial intelligence revolution appear to be positive for California’s overall job market. Technology companies, a California specialty, are staffing up for this latest wave of innovation.

You can’t ignore, however, the workplace efficiencies created by AI tools. Those cost savings are tied to recent layoffs in the state and across the nation. AI-linked job cuts are expected to grow in the coming years.

Plus Trump’s policies include heavy defense spending. That could also be a boost for the many companies across California that create weapons and science for battle.

Yes, this paints a best-case scenario based on January’s results.

Conversely, we’ll note that hiring’s momentum is suspect. For all of 2025, California lost 11,200 jobs – the fifth-worst performance among the states.

And job counts are notoriously volatile, so one good month like January isn’t any trend.

Still, California workers should try to enjoy the moment. Because when California has a bad month, economically speaking, many observers are quick to point that out.

Jonathan Lansner is the business columnist for the Southern California News Group. He can be reached at jlansner@scng.com.

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“Due to recent changes in business conditions, including the loss of partner contracts and the resulting reduction in program operations, Think Together must make thoughtful but challenging adjustments to align our workforce with current operational needs,” wrote Kecia Bailey Alexander, Think Together’s vice president in charge of human resources, in an April 1 letter filed with the state’s Employment Development Department.

The layoffs came after careful consideration of “available alternatives,” according to Alexander.

Randy Barth, founder and chief executive officer of Think Together, Alexander and others within the nonprofit were unavailable for comment on the downsizing on Thursday.

The layoffs will affect the organization’s Riverside County Northeast Regional Hub along River Crest Drive, taking effect June 12, according to the filing made as part of the federal Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act — commonly referred to as WARN. Such notices are required when an employer lays off more than 50 employees. All affected employees are notified at least 60 days before their terminations are scheduled to occur.

Think Together operates 12 statewide offices and serves more than 200,000 students in 500 schools with early childhood education and daily after-school programs, small-group tutoring and STEM-focused programs, and professional development for teachers and administrators.

The organization says on its website that it employs more than 5,000 people, including 315 in Orange County, 976 in Los Angeles County, 1,118 in Riverside County, 1,166 in San Bernardino County and 1,769 in Santa Clara County.

The jobs listed in the EDD layoff notice include the Riverside hub’s executive director of programs, associate director, executives within its human resources department, recruiters, a coordinator for family and community engagement, specialists for program quality and compliance, and coordinators for sports and substitutes.

The nonprofit, which was founded in 1994, has been in a growth phase in recent years.

Barth wrote in the organization’s 2025 annual report that the group was in the first year of its five-year “strategic impact plan” to double by 2029 the number of students served through expanded learning and plans to redevelop its headquarters in Santa Ana.

Some of Think Together’s funding comes from the After School Education and Safety program, which previously faced potential funding cuts and reductions in the 2025-2026 state budget cycle, driven by state budget deficits and federal funding delays. Thousands of students faced losing access to the program due to school closures and site cancellations.

The money for the after-school programs comes mainly as a subsidy from the state’s Proposition 49-funded After School Education and Safety program, also known as ASES.

Think Together reported $236.4 million in revenue in 2025, according to the nonprofit.

The University and Professional and Technical Employees-Communications Workers of America said it was notified by UCI Health Human Resources Director Gabe Contreras that the hospital system had reversed course and restored the positions of the union members — all quality improvement health care specialists who investigate critical medical incidents when things go wrong in a patient’s health.

A copy of the email, obtained by the Southern California News Group, says UCI rescinded the layoffs and “sincerely apologize for this oversight.”

Contreras told the union that UCI Health hopes to retain these workers through new positions that have become available as part of its restructuring, said UPTE spokesman Ansel Herz.

“We are glad UCI restored our workers to their positions,” according to an UPTE statement. “However, there is more work to do. UPTE members, as well as workers represented by our union peers at CNA and AFSCME 3299, are still questioning why — at a time when UCI is pursuing aggressive expansion — our public hospital system is acting like a corporate chain. We deserve answers.”

Besides UPTE, the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees Local 3299 said 44 of its union members were laid off — including respiratory therapists and patient care technical workers. Hours were cut for an additional 260 people.

The California Nurses Association claimed that UCI Health laid off 25 registered nurses at Fountain Valley — a move that led to the closure of its pediatric and pediatric intensive care units.

Separate from Fountain Valley, CNA said 10 per diem employees hired on an “as-needed” basis were laid off, 10 others were reassigned to different areas of UCI Health and hours were reduced for 129 contractual workers.

“As of today, UCI has not rescinded any of our members layoff notices,” according to a statement from the California Nurses Association. “CNA is still in discussions with the university over the layoff impacts to the community and nurses.”

An AFSCME spokesman was not immediately available to comment on whether it has been contacted about the rehiring of laid off workers.

According to Herz, the seven rehired workers were placed at Fountain Valley, Lakewood Regional Medical Center and Los Alamitos Medical Center.

These hospitals were among four facilities and outpatient clinics that UCI Health acquired from Tenet Healthcare Corp. for $975 million in early 2024. The transaction also included  Placentia-Linda Hospital.

UCI Health has not responded to questions about whether any layoffs ever happened at the hospital system’s newly opened, 144-bed, acute-care specialty hospital on the UCI Health-Irvine medical campus. That facility, which opened in December, hired 970 employees.

A UCI Health spokeswoman could not say where the rehiring took place.

“As part of UCI Health’s systemwide restructuring, specific specialist positions at individual hospital locations were transitioned to system-level roles designed to support and serve multiple sites across our network,” wrote UCI Health in a statement to SCNG. “Affected specialists were given the opportunity to be considered for the newly created system-level positions.”

On April 2, UCI Health wrote SCNG that the two pediatric units at Fountain Valley averaged fewer than three patients daily.

“Given the significant demand for adult patient care, these two units are being transitioned to better align with the community needs and become adult beds,” UCI Health wrote. “This resulted in 26 employed nursing roles being eliminated at UCI Health – Fountain Valley in the pediatric ICU and pediatric floor. We are working with impacted nurses to identify open nursing roles within UCI Health.”

A pediatric intensive care unit provides around-the-clock care for critically ill or injured infants, children and teens. Such a unit is staffed by nurses and others who treat severe infections, breathing difficulties, traumatic injuries or recovery from major surgeries. A pediatric unit provides care for stable or moderately ill children.

“All PICU and pediatric specialty patients have been safely discharged or transferred to specialty care facilities in the region,” according to UCI Health’s statement last week. “UCI Health would never divert patients in need.”

UCI Health employs 14,200 workers and serves 5.6 million people in Orange County, western Riverside County and southeastern Los Angeles County.