Iowa Layoffs — February 2023
Employers in Iowa submitted 11 WARN Act notices in February 2023, putting at risk an estimated 401 workers — up substantially from January and up 92% versus February 2022. The average filing covered 36 workers, with 7 closures among the notices.
Industry Breakdown
| Industry | Notices | Workers |
|---|---|---|
| Healthcare | 5 | 203 |
| Manufacturing | 2 | 109 |
| Finance & Insurance | 2 | 43 |
| Information & Technology | 1 | 35 |
The Healthcare sector emerged as the hardest-hit sector with 203 workers across 5 notices. Separately, Manufacturing reported 109 workers.
Geographic Hotspots
| County | Notices | Workers |
|---|---|---|
| Grundy | 1 | 81 |
| Linn | 2 | 77 |
| Madison | 2 | 69 |
| Webster | 2 | 62 |
| Jackson | 1 | 53 |
Grundy felt the sharpest impact, accounting for 20% of all affected workers with 81 workers across 1 notices.
| City | Notices | Workers |
|---|---|---|
| Grundy Center | 1 | 81 |
| Winterset | 2 | 69 |
| Fort Dodge | 2 | 62 |
| Maquoketa | 1 | 53 |
| Cedar Rapids | 1 | 42 |
Layoff Type Analysis
| Type | Notices | Workers |
|---|---|---|
| Closure | 7 | 295 |
| Layoff | 3 | 105 |
The high proportion of closures (74% of affected workers) suggests structural shifts rather than temporary cutbacks in Iowa's labor market.
Largest Layoffs
| Company | City | Workers | Type | Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Richelieu Foods | Grundy Center | 81 | Closure | |
| Timber City Wellness & Rehabilitation | Maquoketa | 53 | Closure | |
| Webster Post Acute | Fort Dodge | 51 | Closure | |
| Madison Wellness & Rehabilitation | Winterset | 43 | Closure | |
| Transamerica Life Insurance | Cedar Rapids | 42 | Layoff | |
| GoDaddy | Hiawatha | 35 | Layoff | |
| Humboldt Wellness and Rehabilitation | Humboldt | 30 | Closure | |
| Clow Valve | Oskaloosa | 28 | Layoff | |
| Webster Post Acute | Winterset | 26 | Closure | |
| Village Cottages AL | Fort Dodge | 11 | Closure | |
| Wells Fargo | West Des Moines | 1 |
Topping the list was Richelieu Foods at its Grundy Center facility, reporting 81 affected workers. Timber City Wellness & Rehabilitation followed with 53 workers.
Trend & Outlook
After a dip last month, layoff activity has ticked back up.
These figures highlight mounting pressure on the Iowa labor market, with activity running above both recent and year-ago benchmarks. The Healthcare 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.