Iowa Layoffs — September 2025
Employers in Iowa filed 11 WARN Act notices in September 2025, impacting roughly 254 workers — representing a pullback from August and down 36% versus September 2024. The average filing covered 23 workers, with 5 closures among the notices.
Industry Breakdown
| Industry | Notices | Workers |
|---|---|---|
| Manufacturing | 3 | 144 |
| Transportation | 5 | 73 |
| Finance & Insurance | 2 | 35 |
| Professional Services | 1 | 2 |
The Manufacturing sector led the way in workforce reductions with 144 workers across 3 notices. In a parallel development, Transportation reported 73 workers.
Geographic Hotspots
| County | Notices | Workers |
|---|---|---|
| Black Hawk | 1 | 101 |
| Polk | 4 | 83 |
| Des Moines | 2 | 53 |
| Scott | 1 | 7 |
| Linn | 2 | 7 |
Black Hawk bore the heaviest burden, accounting for 40% of all affected workers with 101 workers across 1 notices.
| City | Notices | Workers |
|---|---|---|
| Waterloo | 1 | 101 |
| West Burlington | 1 | 47 |
| Ankeny | 1 | 40 |
| West Des Moines | 2 | 35 |
| Des Moines | 1 | 8 |
Layoff Type Analysis
| Type | Notices | Workers |
|---|---|---|
| Layoff | 3 | 143 |
| Closure | 5 | 73 |
Closures accounted for 29% of affected workers, while the majority of filings were layoffs rather than permanent shutdowns.
Largest Layoffs
| Company | City | Workers | Type | Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| John Deere Waterloo Works | Waterloo | 101 | Layoff | |
| Burlington Trailways | West Burlington | 47 | Closure | |
| John Deere Des Moines Works | Ankeny | 40 | Layoff | |
| Wells Fargo | West Des Moines | 23 | ||
| Wells Fargo | West Des Moines | 12 | ||
| Burlington Trailways | Des Moines | 8 | Closure | |
| Burlington Trailways | Davenport | 7 | Closure | |
| Burlington Trailways | Burlington | 6 | Closure | |
| Burlington Trailways | Cedar Rapids | 5 | Closure | |
| Winnebago Industries | Forest City | 3 | ||
| RTX | Cedar Rapids | 2 | Layoff |
The single largest action involved John Deere Waterloo Works at its Waterloo facility, reporting 101 affected workers. Burlington Trailways followed with 47 workers.
Trend & Outlook
This is the third consecutive month of declining layoff activity.
The data underscores a easing in workforce disruptions across Iowa, with filings falling below both recent and year-ago levels. 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.