Employers in Iowa filed 24 WARN Act notices in April 2018, impacting roughly 1,203 workers — representing a notable rise over March and down 2% versus April 2017. The average filing covered 50 workers, with 11 closures among the notices.
| Industry | Notices | Workers |
|---|---|---|
| Information & Technology | 1 | 112 |
| Retail | 1 | 6 |
The Information & Technology sector led the way in workforce reductions with 112 workers across 1 notice. In a parallel development, Retail reported 6 workers.
| County | Notices | Workers |
|---|---|---|
| Polk | 7 | 535 |
| Johnson | 3 | 334 |
| Linn | 3 | 146 |
| Dubuque | 1 | 90 |
| Cerro Gordo | 1 | 64 |
Polk saw the most concentrated activity, accounting for 44% of all affected workers with 535 workers across 7 notices.
| City | Notices | Workers |
|---|---|---|
| Coralville | 3 | 334 |
| West Des Moines | 2 | 272 |
| Des Moines | 2 | 162 |
| Cedar Rapids | 3 | 146 |
| Dubuque | 1 | 90 |
| Type | Notices | Workers |
|---|---|---|
| Closure | 11 | 800 |
| Layoff | 3 | 229 |
The high proportion of closures (67% of affected workers) suggests structural shifts rather than temporary cutbacks in Iowa's labor market.
| Company | City | Workers | Type | Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Younkers | West Des Moines | 164 | Closure | 2018-04-05 |
| General Dynamics Information Technology | Coralville | 112 | Layoff | 2018-04-30 |
| General Dynamics | Coralville | 112 | 2018-04-30 | |
| Younkers | Coralville | 110 | Closure | 2018-04-05 |
| Younkers | West Des Moines | 108 | Closure | 2018-04-05 |
| Younkers | Cedar Rapids | 95 | Closure | 2018-04-05 |
| Younkers | Dubuque | 90 | Closure | 2018-04-05 |
| Younkers | Des Moines | 84 | Closure | 2018-04-05 |
| Aramark | Des Moines | 78 | Layoff | 2018-04-24 |
| Younkers | Mason City | 64 | Closure | 2018-04-05 |
| Sears Holdings Company | Cedar Rapids | 45 | Closure | 2018-04-12 |
| The Barrent Group | Urbandale | 39 | Layoff | 2018-04-26 |
| The Barrent Group | Urbandale | 39 | 2018-04-26 | |
| Mahle | Winterset | 33 | Closure | 2018-04-15 |
| Pioneer Hi-Bred International | Johnston | 23 | 2018-04-25 |
The single largest action involved Younkers at its West Des Moines facility, reporting 164 affected workers. General Dynamics Information Technology followed with 112 workers.
After a dip last month, layoff activity has ticked back up.
The data underscores a mixed picture for Iowa's labor market, with activity diverging between monthly and annual comparisons. The Information & Technology 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.
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