Laid off from SunPower.

What SunPower layoffs have meant for employees

The jobs SunPower cut changed as the company did. Its two 2016 plans were expected to fall mostly on employees in the Philippines, where the board approved closing the Fab 2 plant, according to its 2016 10-K restructuring note. After the August 2020 spin-off handed international panel making and sales to Maxeon, SunPower focused on selling and servicing solar and storage systems in the U.S. and Canada, got its panels through a supply agreement with Maxeon and closed its Hillsboro, Oregon plant, its January 2021 release said. From then on the cuts fell on a company that sold and installed systems rather than making them, and in April 2024 they reached its own installation locations and its direct sales arm, Solar Power World reported.

Some of the people who left in the years between chose to, and some were asked to stay. The 2018 plan let part of its departures happen through a voluntary departure program, and the December 2019 plan expected $8 million to $11 million in retention benefits, mostly to keep employees affected by the Maxeon spin-off and certain key research and development staff, beside a matching range for severance, the 2019 10-K restructuring note said.

The pace quickened near the end. SunPower adopted four restructuring plans in the six months from July 2023 to January 2024, going by its third-quarter 2023 10-Q, its November 2023 8-K and its January 2024 8-K, and the April 2024 letter followed. Those filings describe each plan by how many employees it would let go or what severance it would cost, or both. If you left SunPower under one of these plans and a new employer asks about it, the filing that records your plan is a dated public record you can point to.

SunPower's last California layoffs took effect after it had already filed for Chapter 11, California's 2024-25 WARN report and its first-day court filing show, so the people they reached worked their final weeks for a company in bankruptcy. That same filing said SunPower had decided to significantly reduce its workforce to preserve liquidity. If SunPower let you go before the August 5 filing and still owed you severance, the wage request it filed that day, which listed severance obligations among the prepetition pay it sought authority to cover, is the part of the court record that deals with it.

SunPower also sold and installed systems through businesses it didn't own. In January 2021 the company counted more than 700 independent dealers in 46 states, each its own small business, with more than 17,000 U.S. jobs among them, the Hillsboro release said. Tom Werner's April 2024 letter to employees said that after a short transition SunPower's pipeline, from pre-installation through system activation, would be handled by Blue Raven Solar, installation partners and SunPower-certified dealers. If one of those independent businesses employed you and gave you a notice or terms, those documents are that employer's layoff record, separate from SunPower's.

The company that renamed itself SunPower in 2025 is the one that agreed to buy part of the business. Under the deal in that court filing, Complete Solaria committed in August 2024, subject to court approval, to pay $45 million for Blue Raven, New Homes and part of the dealer network, and in October 2025 it took the name SunPower Inc., an October 2025 8-K shows. If you're weighing a job with SunPower Inc. or reading news about it, the terms and the record are that Fremont company's own. No SunPower Corporation filing dated 2025 or later is in our WARN tracker. For a California site on its 2024 notices, California's unemployment benefits set out how claims work, as Oregon's unemployment benefits do for Hillsboro.

A sourced history of SunPower layoffs

• August 2024, Chapter 11 filing in Delaware

  SunPower filed for Chapter 11 on August 5 after letting go about 15% of its workforce, keeping 4,000 employees to support Blue Raven, New Homes and the asset sale, its first-day court filing says.

• July 2024, eight California layoff notices

  Notices dated July 26 set permanent layoffs for September 24, including 182 at 880 Harbour Way South in Richmond and smaller groups in Berkeley, North Hollywood, Anaheim, Elk Grove, Ontario, Santee and San Jose, California's 2024-25 WARN report shows.

• April 2024, installation and direct sales wind-down

  SunPower moved to wind down its installation locations, close SunPower Direct sales and cut about 1,000 people within weeks, Solar Power World reported on April 24, adding that those affected should have been contacted that day.

• January 2024 restructuring plan

  A January 12 plan to cut operating costs carried about $8.2 million in expected severance benefits, SunPower's January 2024 8-K said.

• October 2023 restructuring plan

  An October 30 plan expected about 83 employees to leave, at a severance cost of about $2.6 million, SunPower's November 2023 8-K said.

• September 2023 restructuring plan

  About 55 employees left in the third fiscal quarter under a September plan with about $1.0 million in expected charges, mostly for severance, SunPower's third-quarter 2023 10-Q said.

• July 2023 restructuring plan

  About 140 employees, roughly 5% of labor costs, exited in the third fiscal quarter under a July plan with about $4.8 million in expected charges, largely severance, according to its third-quarter 2023 10-Q.

• January 2021, Hillsboro, Oregon panel plant closing

  SunPower said the Hillsboro closing would affect about 170 employees and that it would provide all of them packages with severance, work transition assistance and six months of COBRA, and host a virtual job fair, its January 2021 release says.

• December 2019, cuts around the Maxeon spin-off

  SunPower expected 145 to 160 non-manufacturing employees to leave over 12 to 18 months, 65 to 70 of them after the Maxeon spin-off, its 2019 10-K restructuring note said.

• February 2018, non-manufacturing cuts with voluntary departures

  SunPower expected 150 to 250 non-manufacturing employees to be affected, some through a voluntary departure program, with $11 million to $16 million in severance, the 2019 10-K restructuring note said.

• December 2016, Philippine Fab 2 factory closing

  SunPower's board approved closing its Fab 2 plant in the Philippines under a plan expected to affect about 2,500 employees, about 25% of the global workforce, its 2016 10-K restructuring note said.

• August 2016 realignment plan

  An August 9 realignment was expected to affect about 1,200 employees, mostly in the Philippines and about 15% of the global workforce at the time, the 2016 10-K restructuring note said.

What to do if you're laid off from SunPower

• File for unemployment in the state where you worked. Benefits run from your filing date, and severance usually doesn't block you. SunPower's biggest hubs: California, Oregon, Washington. 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 SunPower's hub states run: California, Oregon, Washington, 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.