Iowa Layoffs — August 2025
Employers in Iowa posted 10 WARN Act notices in August 2025, affecting an estimated 413 workers — reflecting a cooling compared to July and up 29% versus August 2024. The average filing covered 41 workers, with 2 closures among the notices.
Industry Breakdown
| Industry | Notices | Workers |
|---|---|---|
| Manufacturing | 5 | 243 |
| Information & Technology | 1 | 49 |
| Finance & Insurance | 2 | 20 |
| Retail | 1 | 1 |
The Manufacturing sector saw the heaviest impact with 243 workers across 5 notices. On a related front, Information & Technology reported 49 workers.
Geographic Hotspots
| County | Notices | Workers |
|---|---|---|
| Polk | 4 | 121 |
| Linn | 1 | 100 |
| Black Hawk | 1 | 71 |
| Marshall | 2 | 71 |
| Scott | 1 | 49 |
Polk saw the most concentrated activity, accounting for 29% of all affected workers with 121 workers across 4 notices.
| City | Notices | Workers |
|---|---|---|
| Cedar Rapids | 1 | 100 |
| Des Moines | 1 | 100 |
| Waterloo | 1 | 71 |
| Marshalltown | 2 | 71 |
| Davenport | 1 | 49 |
Layoff Type Analysis
| Type | Notices | Workers |
|---|---|---|
| Layoff | 3 | 220 |
| Closure | 2 | 101 |
Closures accounted for 24% of affected workers, while the majority of filings were layoffs rather than permanent shutdowns.
Largest Layoffs
| Company | City | Workers | Type | Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Smurfit Westrock | Cedar Rapids | 100 | Closure | |
| Maverik | Des Moines | 100 | Layoff | |
| John Deere Waterloo Works | Waterloo | 71 | Layoff | |
| Quad City Times | Davenport | 49 | Layoff | |
| Lennox Industries | Marshalltown | 49 | ||
| Lennox Industries | Marshalltown | 22 | ||
| Wells Fargo | West Des Moines | 10 | ||
| Wells Fargo | West Des Moines | 10 | ||
| Winnebago Industries | Forest City | 1 | ||
| Fellers | Urbandale | 1 | Closure |
The largest notice was filed by Smurfit Westrock at its Cedar Rapids facility, reporting 100 affected workers. Maverik followed with 100 workers.
Trend & Outlook
This is the third consecutive month of declining layoff activity.
The trends suggest a mixed picture for Iowa's labor market, with activity diverging between monthly and annual comparisons. 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.