Last May, USC began a series of permanent layoffs unseen in at least a decade. Across the University’s health care and auxiliary services, USC permanently laid off or closed the departments of 179 workers in a process that has yet to be finished. 

On May 1, the Keck School of Medicine submitted a Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification, a legally mandated report that notifies employees and government officials of job losses in advance. The WARN notice was the only report in public record — which goes back to July 1, 2014 — to signal permanent layoffs for USC. Previously, the University had filed two reports of temporary layoffs in June 2020 and March 2015.

The WARN notice was the first of three spanning Keck, the Ostrow School of Dentistry, USC Verdugo Hills Hospital and USC Auxiliary Services — which encompasses functions ranging from transportation to housing.

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Keck indicated that USC would be permanently laying off 85 employees at Keck and the Ostrow due to Los Angeles General Medical Center “substantially reducing the volume of the services it purchases from the University.” The majority of employees being laid off were clinical assistant professors at Keck.

 The University did not disclose when or why LAGMC chose to reduce the services bought from USC but wrote that it plans to continue the relationship with the center.

“USC has proudly worked with Los Angeles General Medical Center for nearly 140 years to provide world-class care to patients regardless of economic status,” the University wrote. “Both parties remain strongly committed to this relationship, and to assuring that our respective faculty and staff have continued opportunities at LA General and/or Keck School of Medicine.”

USC also did not divulge how many Keck workers remain at LAGMC or if any of the laid-off workers were relocated to different jobs.

A WARN notice was issued for layoffs in several USC departments across Auxiliary Services less than a month after the first layoffs’ planned effective date. The affected units include Hospitality, Learning & Organizational Department, the USC Hotel and Marketing. 

In a notice to Los Angeles’ Economic and Workforce Development Department, a USC Human Resources representative wrote that declining profits caused a reorganization, including laying off employees. 

 “[USC] is restructuring its Auxiliary Services operations due to cutbacks in revenue and increased operational costs,” the representative wrote. “It is not at this time anticipated that these employees will be recalled to work, such that this action will be permanent.”

 Moreton Fig, a high-end restaurant on the ground floor of Sample Hall, was transformed into a coffee shop at the beginning of the fall semester. 

 The WARN notice lists the hall’s address as one location where layoffs occurred, although it is unclear if the layoffs occurred at Moreton Fig specifically or at a separate facility in the building. 

 In a statement to Daily Trojan, Auxiliary Services said decisions were made after careful consideration and that employees were provided with severance benefits. These include job-hunting services and application assistance for other positions at USC.

 “We are always looking for ways to refine our operations to create greater efficiencies so we can invest in critical university priorities,” Auxiliary Services wrote.

 Although revenues for Auxiliary Services increased by 13% from the fiscal year 2022 to 2023, its expenses still exceed revenues. In 2022, auxiliary services operated at a loss of over $180 million. In 2023, despite an increase in overall revenue by $36 million, the year’s deficit ballooned to $196 million. It is unclear how expenses are distributed across departments. 

 On Sept. 20, the University reported its most recent WARN notice, the permanent closure of the Maternal Health Services at USC Verdugo Hills Hospital. The closure resulted in the loss of 65 jobs. In the WARN notice, VHH described how the hospital had faced issues creating an “unsustainable financial trajectory.”

 “VHH is facing significant financial challenges due to shifting demographics, evolving labor force dynamics, reduced demand for certain services, and rising labor costs,” the report read.

 The final layoffs are planned to go into effect Nov. 20.