Iowa Layoffs — March 2009
Employers in Iowa posted 7 WARN Act notices in March 2009, affecting an estimated 567 workers — reflecting a significant uptick compared to February and up 28% versus March 2008. The average filing covered 81 workers, with 5 closures among the notices.
Industry Breakdown
| Industry | Notices | Workers |
|---|---|---|
| Manufacturing | 3 | 373 |
| Information & Technology | 3 | 129 |
| Utilities | 1 | 65 |
The Manufacturing sector saw the heaviest impact with 373 workers across 3 notices. On a related front, Information & Technology reported 129 workers.
Geographic Hotspots
| County | Notices | Workers |
|---|---|---|
| Linn | 1 | 258 |
| Cedar | 1 | 65 |
| Davis | 1 | 63 |
| Johnson | 1 | 63 |
| Carroll | 1 | 61 |
Linn absorbed the greatest share of layoffs, accounting for 46% of all affected workers with 258 workers across 1 notices.
| City | Notices | Workers |
|---|---|---|
| Cedar Rapids | 1 | 258 |
| West Branch | 1 | 65 |
| Bloomfield | 1 | 63 |
| Iowa City | 1 | 63 |
| Carroll | 1 | 61 |
Layoff Type Analysis
| Type | Notices | Workers |
|---|---|---|
| Closure | 5 | 497 |
| Layoff | 2 | 70 |
The high proportion of closures (88% of affected workers) suggests structural shifts rather than temporary cutbacks in Iowa's labor market.
Largest Layoffs
| Company | City | Workers | Type | Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sealed Air | Cedar Rapids | 258 | Closure | |
| Acciona Windpower North America | West Branch | 65 | Layoff | |
| American Welding & Tank | Bloomfield | 63 | Closure | |
| Buckle Down Pub/Triumph Learning | Iowa City | 63 | Closure | |
| Sitel | Carroll | 61 | Closure | |
| Cenevo | Boone | 52 | Closure | |
| Sun Microsystems | West Des Moines | 5 | Layoff |
The largest notice was filed by Sealed Air at its Cedar Rapids facility, reporting 258 affected workers. Acciona Windpower North America followed with 65 workers.
Trend & Outlook
After a dip last month, layoff activity has ticked back up.
The trends suggest 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.