Laid off from AbbVie.
Every AbbVie filing in our tracker since 2025 sits in California, and the largest, 202 jobs on an Allergan Aesthetics notice for Irvine, counted just 19 people working on site. Everyone else on it worked remotely, so the address on that notice and the state that takes their unemployment claim can differ.
At a glance
What's known about AbbVie severance and layoffs
- 5, covering 346 jobs, all in California · AbbVie WARN filings since 2025, our tracker
- 1, covering 85 jobs · AbbVie filings dated 2026, our tracker
- 25, Allergan and acquired companies included · All-time AbbVie filings, our tracker
- 202 jobs, Allergan Aesthetics, May 2025 · Largest AbbVie filing since 2025
- 19; the rest worked remotely · Staff on site among those 202
- $282 million, primarily severance and contract obligations · AbbVie restructuring charges, 2025
- None on record · Individual AbbVie severance terms
Recent AbbVie layoffs
AbbVie's May 2026 notice covers 85 eye care jobs in Irvine
AbbVie filed a California notice on May 19, 2026 covering 85 jobs, and those permanent layoffs at its Irvine research campus took effect July 20. An earlier report had put them in Allergan Aesthetics until a correction tied them to eye care. It's AbbVie's only 2026 filing in our tracker.
Previous rounds
AbbVie layoff history
Our tracker holds 5 filings covering 346 jobs since the start of 2025 for AbbVie, all five in California and one dated 2026. Two came from Irvine, one filed by Allergan Aesthetics and one covering AbbVie's eye care business, and the other three, all dated November 10, 2025, cover one site each in Dublin, Livermore and Pleasanton. Counting filings by Allergan and the other companies AbbVie owns today, the all-time total is 25.
The May 2025 notice is the strange one. Allergan Aesthetics filed on May 21 to lay off 202 people in Irvine, effective July 22, and only 19 of them worked there in person; the rest were remote. The affected positions included sales, data engineering and product management across several divisions. A company spokesperson called it a reorganization "to better position Allergan Aesthetics for sustained leadership within the dynamic aesthetics industry." Months earlier, on the fourth-quarter 2024 call, Allergan Aesthetics president Carrie Strom said many providers found the revamped Allē loyalty program "too complex to integrate into their practices," hurting market share and inventory levels, and Allergan restored the original program that February. Aesthetics sales fell 4.4% to $1.3 billion in that quarter. BioSpace set the two side by side in its report on the cuts.
The three November filings, dated November 10, 2025 and effective January 9, 2026, covered 48 jobs in Dublin, 9 in Livermore and 2 in Pleasanton. Nothing in the reporting we track names the business behind them. Those three towns do line up with Zeltiq, a company Allergan agreed to buy in February 2017 and whose 2016 annual report ties it to CoolSculpting treatments. That report placed its headquarters in Pleasanton, its manufacturing in Dublin and a warehouse in Livermore. That same month STAT reported from internal emails that AbbVie was ending the Calico Life Sciences research partnership it began in 2014 and laying off chemists, about 100 according to STAT, as relayed by BioSpace. BioSpace added that AbbVie would put the saved money toward biologics and cell and RNA therapies.
AbbVie's filings put a price on cuts without tying it to any site. Restructuring charges came to $132 million in 2023, $189 million in 2024 and $282 million in 2025, primarily employee severance and contractual obligations, with no individual plan significant on its own, and the accrued reserve stood at $314 million on December 31, 2025. Folding in Allergan cost $2.5 billion in charges through 2023, cash severance and accelerated equity awards among them. The filings carry no Allergan headcount, since AbbVie doesn't report one; company-wide, BioSpace reported roughly 55,000 employees as 2024 closed.
Landing on one of these notices is miserable, and the paperwork behind it holds the detail worth having. California wants at least 60 days' written notice, and each notice has to list the affected job titles and how many people held each, location by location. EDD takes public records requests for the notices through its GovQA portal under the WARN Notice Request category, and notices under the 2026 rule must also explain how the employer will support laid-off workers, saying whether it planned to work with the local workforce board, another organization, or not coordinate services. If you worked remotely, the Labor Department's guidance generally points your claim to the state you worked in, which may not be California, so check that when you file.
Reporting on previous AbbVie layoff rounds
May 2026, 85 eye care jobs in Irvine · 85 permanent layoffs at the Irvine research campus, effective July 20, tied to eye care after an earlier report placed them in Allergan Aesthetics
November 2025, 59 jobs in Dublin, Livermore and Pleasanton · Filings dated November 10 and effective January 9, 2026, 48 jobs in Dublin, 9 in Livermore and 2 in Pleasanton
November 2025, Calico research chemists · About 100 chemists by STAT's account, relayed by BioSpace, as AbbVie ended its Calico Life Sciences research partnership
May 2025, 202 Allergan Aesthetics jobs · 202 jobs on an Irvine notice effective July 22, just 19 of them on site, across sales, data engineering and product management
2022, 99 jobs in Irvine · 99 positions cut at the Irvine site, the earliest of its three recent rounds
What to do after being laid off from AbbVie
- File for unemployment in the state where you worked. Benefits run from your filing date, and severance usually doesn't block you. AbbVie's biggest hubs: California, Illinois. Somewhere else? Every state is here.
- Apply for financial and hardship assistance. Unemployment supplements income, but food benefits, health coverage and utility help are often available as well. Here's some of what AbbVie's hub states run: California, Illinois, and every other state is here.
- Mind the health insurance window. Losing coverage opens a 60-day special enrollment period, and an ACA plan usually beats unsubsidized COBRA. Compare your options before the employer coverage lapses, and read how the COBRA clocks run if you are weighing it seriously.
- Get your real runway number. Severance plus savings divided by reality. The calculator takes five minutes.
- Know which clocks are already running. Severance review windows, COBRA election, visa grace periods, and 401(k) rollovers all run on federal deadlines that started at termination. All five deadlines are here.
AbbVie layoff and severance questions
Is AbbVie laying off employees in 2026?
Our tracker holds one AbbVie filing dated 2026, a California notice of May 19 covering 85 jobs at the Irvine campus, and those permanent eye care layoffs took effect July 20. Counting 2025 as well, AbbVie has 5 filings covering 346 jobs since the start of 2025, and California holds every one.
What severance did AbbVie pay in the Allergan Aesthetics layoffs?
That round, like every round we track, has no terms on record. AbbVie's 10-K puts its 2025 restructuring charges at $282 million company-wide, primarily employee severance and contractual obligations, an accounting charge that doesn't reveal any one person's package or what this round paid. Since nothing here can tell you your own terms, check the separation agreement, release and any plan document you were given against anything you were told in a meeting.
Do former Allergan employees keep Allergan severance protections at AbbVie?
Not under the deal's own promise. AbbVie's 2019 transaction agreement required severance no less favorable than Allergan's listed arrangements for Allergan employees terminated during a Benefits Continuation Period, which ran from completion through the earlier of the deal's second anniversary and December 31, 2021. Every AbbVie filing in our tracker since 2025 came after that period ended, so the deal's promise doesn't reach those rounds, and any current plan and separation documents you were given are the place to look.
Where do remote Allergan Aesthetics employees file for unemployment?
All but 19 of the 202 people on the May 2025 Irvine notice worked remotely. Federal guidance from the Labor Department says to file generally in the state you worked in, and if that differs from where you live now, or you worked in several, your home state's agency can explain filing with the others. It also says to contact the program as soon as possible once you're out of work.
What happened at AbbVie's Dublin, Livermore and Pleasanton sites?
Three filings dated November 10, 2025 and effective January 9, 2026 covered 59 jobs, 48 of them in Dublin. Nothing in the reporting we track names a reason or the business line, so the job titles and unit on your own notice are the best record of what was cut.
Where do I file for unemployment after being laid off from AbbVie?
In the state where you worked, not where the company is headquartered. AbbVie's biggest U.S. hubs are California, Illinois. Severance usually doesn't block you from filing, and benefits run from your filing date, so file the same week.
Is it OK to file for unemployment after a layoff at AbbVie?
Yes. Unemployment insurance is funded by payroll taxes employers pay on wages, the claim never appears on credit reports or background checks, and future employers cannot see it. If the hesitation itself is the obstacle, whether filing is OK has its own article.
What happens to my health insurance after a layoff at AbbVie?
Your plan sets the end date rather than the law, so the separation packet is where that date actually lives, and it is often the last day of the month rather than your last day of work. After coverage ends, COBRA lets you keep the identical plan by paying the whole premium yourself, up to 102 percent of what the plan really costs, which lands as several times the payroll deduction you were used to. You get 60 days to elect, counted from the later of coverage ending or the election notice arriving, and electing reaches the coverage back to the day the old plan stopped so no gap exists. How continuation coverage works walks the timing, and whether to take it rather than a marketplace plan is a separate decision.
Should I sign the severance agreement right away?
First pin down how much review time you actually have. If you're 40 or older, federal law gives you 21 days to consider an agreement that waives age claims, 45 in a group layoff, and a waiver signed under a shorter deadline can be invalid. If you're under 40, no federal window applies and the deadline in your packet may be real, so confirm it in writing and ask for more time if you need it. Use whatever window you have to read the release terms, especially non-disparagement and no-lawsuit clauses, and don't stall past a real deadline, because offers can be withdrawn.
Can I collect unemployment if I got severance from AbbVie?
Usually yes, though some states delay benefits until severance pay periods end, and lump sums are treated differently than salary continuation. Check your state's rules on our state benefit pages, and file immediately either way so your claim date is locked in.