Employers in Iowa posted 12 WARN Act notices in May 2019, affecting an estimated 1,518 workers — reflecting a significant uptick compared to April and up 216% versus May 2018. The average filing covered 126 workers, with 1 closure among the notices.
| Industry | Notices | Workers |
|---|---|---|
| Healthcare | 4 | 1,102 |
| Utilities | 4 | 14 |
The Healthcare sector saw the heaviest impact with 1,102 workers across 4 notices. On a related front, Utilities reported 14 workers.
| County | Notices | Workers |
|---|---|---|
| Polk | 8 | 1,134 |
| Chickasaw | 2 | 380 |
| Scott | 2 | 4 |
Polk bore the heaviest burden, accounting for 75% of all affected workers with 1,134 workers across 8 notices.
| City | Notices | Workers |
|---|---|---|
| West Des Moines | 2 | 1,098 |
| New Hampton | 2 | 380 |
| Johnston | 2 | 22 |
| Urbandale | 4 | 14 |
| Davenport | 2 | 4 |
| Type | Notices | Workers |
|---|---|---|
| Layoff | 2 | 551 |
| Closure | 1 | 190 |
Closures accounted for 13% of affected workers, while the majority of filings were layoffs rather than permanent shutdowns.
| Company | City | Workers | Type | Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| UnitedHealthcare Community & State | West Des Moines | 549 | Layoff | 2019-05-02 |
| UnitedHealthcare Community & State | West Des Moines | 549 | 2019-05-02 | |
| Sparboe Foods, LLC | New Hampton | 190 | Closure | 2019-05-09 |
| Sparboe Foods, LLC | New Hampton | 190 | 2019-05-09 | |
| Pioneer Hi-Bred International | Johnston | 11 | 2019-05-31 | |
| Pioneer Hi-Bred International | Johnston | 11 | 2019-05-31 | |
| A-TEC Energy Corp | Urbandale | 4 | 2019-05-13 | |
| A-TEC Energy Corp | Urbandale | 4 | 2019-05-13 | |
| A-TEC Energy Corp | Urbandale | 3 | 2019-05-30 | |
| A-TEC Energy Corp | Urbandale | 3 | 2019-05-30 | |
| UnitedHealthcare Community & State | Davenport | 2 | Layoff | 2019-05-02 |
| UnitedHealthcare Community & State | Davenport | 2 | 2019-05-02 |
The largest notice was filed by UnitedHealthcare Community & State at its West Des Moines facility, reporting 549 affected workers. UnitedHealthcare Community & State followed with 549 workers.
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 Healthcare 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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