Iowa Layoffs — February 2018
Employers in Iowa submitted 4 WARN Act notices in February 2018, putting at risk an estimated 959 workers — up substantially from January and up 805% versus February 2017. The average filing covered 240 workers, with 1 closure among the notices.
Industry Breakdown
| Industry | Notices | Workers |
|---|---|---|
| Finance & Insurance | 3 | 956 |
| Manufacturing | 1 | 3 |
The Finance & Insurance sector emerged as the hardest-hit sector with 956 workers across 3 notices. Separately, Manufacturing reported 3 workers.
Geographic Hotspots
| County | Notices | Workers |
|---|---|---|
| Linn | 2 | 902 |
| Polk | 2 | 57 |
Linn felt the sharpest impact, accounting for 94% of all affected workers with 902 workers across 2 notices.
| City | Notices | Workers |
|---|---|---|
| Cedar Rapids | 2 | 902 |
| Des Moines | 1 | 54 |
| Johnston | 1 | 3 |
Layoff Type Analysis
| Type | Notices | Workers |
|---|---|---|
| Layoff | 2 | 917 |
| Closure | 1 | 39 |
Closures accounted for 4% of affected workers, while the majority of filings were layoffs rather than permanent shutdowns.
Largest Layoffs
| Company | City | Workers | Type | Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Transamerica Life Ins | Cedar Rapids | 863 | Layoff | |
| Nationwide- Mortgage Division | Des Moines | 54 | Layoff | |
| Goldman Sachs Bank USA | Cedar Rapids | 39 | Closure | |
| Pioneer Hi-Bred International | Johnston | 3 |
Topping the list was Transamerica Life Ins at its Cedar Rapids facility, reporting 863 affected workers. Nationwide- Mortgage Division followed with 54 workers.
Trend & Outlook
This marks the third consecutive month of rising layoff activity.
These figures highlight mounting pressure on the Iowa labor market, with activity running above both recent and year-ago benchmarks. The Finance & Insurance sector warrants close attention heading into the next period.
This analysis is based on official WARN Act filings reported by Iowa. The Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification (WARN) Act requires employers with 100+ employees to provide 60-day advance notice of mass layoffs and plant closings. Data is updated daily by WARN Firehose. View all Iowa WARN notices, browse layoffs by state, or download the full dataset.