Iowa Layoffs — July 2024
Employers in Iowa filed 15 WARN Act notices in July 2024, impacting roughly 1,403 workers — representing a notable rise over June and up 110% versus July 2023. The average filing covered 94 workers, with 4 closures among the notices.
Industry Breakdown
| Industry | Notices | Workers |
|---|---|---|
| Manufacturing | 11 | 1,249 |
| Finance & Insurance | 3 | 103 |
The Manufacturing sector led the way in workforce reductions with 1,249 workers across 11 notices. In a parallel development, Finance & Insurance reported 103 workers.
Geographic Hotspots
| County | Notices | Workers |
|---|---|---|
| Polk | 4 | 422 |
| Black Hawk | 4 | 414 |
| Iowa | 2 | 385 |
| Cass | 1 | 60 |
| Clarke | 1 | 51 |
Polk felt the sharpest impact, accounting for 30% of all affected workers with 422 workers across 4 notices.
| City | Notices | Workers |
|---|---|---|
| Waterloo | 4 | 414 |
| Williamsburg | 2 | 385 |
| Altoona | 1 | 319 |
| Johnston | 1 | 67 |
| Atlantic | 1 | 60 |
Layoff Type Analysis
| Type | Notices | Workers |
|---|---|---|
| Layoff | 9 | 901 |
| Closure | 4 | 466 |
Closures accounted for 33% of affected workers, while the majority of filings were layoffs rather than permanent shutdowns.
Largest Layoffs
| Company | City | Workers | Type | Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Smithfield Packaged Meats | Altoona | 319 | Closure | |
| Kinze Manufacturing | Williamsburg | 193 | Layoff | |
| Kinze Manufacturing | Williamsburg | 192 | Layoff | |
| John Deere Waterloo Works | Waterloo | 191 | Layoff | |
| John Deere Waterloo Works | Waterloo | 89 | Layoff | |
| John Deere Waterloo Works | Waterloo | 69 | Layoff | |
| John Deere Financial | Johnston | 67 | Layoff | |
| John Deere Waterloo Works | Waterloo | 65 | Layoff | |
| Myers Industries | Atlantic | 60 | Closure | |
| Salford | Osceola | 51 | Closure | |
| Winnebago Industries | Charles City | 36 | Closure | |
| John Deere Dubuque Works | Dubuque | 34 | Layoff | |
| Wells Fargo | West Des Moines | 24 | ||
| Wells Fargo | West Des Moines | 12 | ||
| West Liberty Foods | West Liberty | 1 | Layoff |
The single largest action involved Smithfield Packaged Meats at its Altoona facility, reporting 319 affected workers. Kinze Manufacturing followed with 193 workers.
Trend & Outlook
This marks the third consecutive month of rising layoff activity.
The data underscores mounting pressure on the Iowa labor market, with activity running above both recent and year-ago benchmarks. The Manufacturing 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.