WARN Act Layoffs in Des Moines, Iowa

Analysis: Layoffs in Des Moines, Iowa

# Des Moines Layoff Analysis

The Scale and Significance of Workforce Reductions in Des Moines

Between 2005 and 2026, Des Moines has experienced 144 Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification (WARN) Act filings affecting 6,504 workers—a substantial displacement that represents a meaningful shock to the regional labor market. To contextualize this figure, these formal WARN notices capture only layoffs of 50 or more workers, meaning the actual total displacement across all firm-level reductions is considerably larger. The data span two decades of economic cycles, from the post-2008 financial crisis recovery through the COVID-19 pandemic and into a period of significant corporate consolidation and automation.

The concentration of these layoffs reveals structural vulnerabilities in Des Moines's economic base. Wells Fargo alone accounts for 33 notices and 719 affected workers—more than 11 percent of all WARN-tracked layoffs in the city. This single employer's dominance signals a critical dependency on the financial services sector, which itself has undergone relentless consolidation and technological transformation over the past two decades. When a single institution represents such a substantial portion of documented workforce reductions, it indicates both the significance of that employer to the regional economy and the risk concentration embedded in the city's employment landscape.

The geographic and temporal distribution of these layoffs shows that Des Moines has not experienced uniform pressure across the period. Rather, the city has faced episodic waves of significant workforce reductions, with certain years standing out as inflection points where multiple large employers simultaneously restructured their operations. Understanding these patterns requires examining both the historical trajectory and the sectoral composition of these reductions.

The Dominance of Financial Services and the Wells Fargo Effect

Wells Fargo's repeated WARN filings over the two-decade period reflect the broader trajectory of banking sector consolidation and digital transformation. The bank's 33 separate notices suggest that workforce reductions did not occur in a single massive layoff but rather through a series of ongoing restructurings—likely reflecting branch closures, back-office consolidation, and the gradual automation of routine banking functions. This pattern of incremental reduction is characteristic of large financial institutions responding to secular changes in consumer behavior, the rise of digital banking, and intensifying competitive pressure from fintech companies and non-traditional financial services providers.

Finance and insurance as a sector generated 17 WARN notices affecting 512 workers, making it the single largest source of documented layoffs by notice count. Beyond Wells Fargo, Nationwide—itself a Des Moines-based major employer—filed 3 notices affecting 294 workers. The concentration of financial sector layoffs becomes even more pronounced when considering that Ing, likely ING Financial Services, contributed 2 notices affecting 457 workers, substantially amplifying the sector's footprint. These three companies alone account for approximately 1,463 workers across the finance and insurance sector's documented layoffs.

The persistence of financial services layoffs in Des Moines reflects a national trend in which banking employment has steadily contracted despite the sector's nominal economic importance. Retail banking branches have closed at accelerating rates since 2010, and corporate headquarters operations have similarly contracted through outsourcing, consolidation, and automation. For a city like Des Moines, which built significant employment clusters in financial services during the late 20th century, these long-term sectoral headwinds represent a structural challenge requiring economic diversification.

Transportation and Manufacturing: Sector-Specific Vulnerabilities

Transportation emerges as the second-largest source of WARN notices, with 10 notices affecting 548 workers—a sector concentration that reveals Des Moines's role as a distribution and logistics hub. XPO Logistics, a major less-than-truckload carrier, filed 4 notices affecting 300 workers, while Bridgestone Americas Manufacturing Group across two related filings accounted for 2 notices affecting 323 workers (combining the Firestone Ag Plant Des Moines operation and the broader manufacturing group filings). These companies reflect Des Moines's position within regional supply chains and its importance as a location for both logistics operations and equipment manufacturing.

Manufacturing, though smaller in notice count with 5 notices, affected 355 workers and includes the significant Bridgestone presence noted above. The manufacturing sector's layoffs reflect the same pressures visible nationally—automation reducing labor intensity, supply chain restructuring, and in the case of agricultural equipment, cyclical downturns in commodity prices affecting input demand. The Firestone Ag Plant operation is particularly significant given Iowa's agricultural economy; disruptions in this supply chain ripple through the regional farm equipment sector.

Healthcare, despite being a growth sector nationally, generated 8 notices affecting 629 workers—the highest worker count among documented layoffs by sector. This figure suggests that even growing industries experience significant restructuring, likely driven by hospital consolidations, insurance reimbursement changes, and the shift from inpatient to outpatient care. The size of healthcare workforce reductions indicates that sector growth masks substantial churn and displacement within the industry.

Historical Trends: The Acceleration of Recent Years

The temporal distribution of WARN notices reveals a striking acceleration beginning in 2015, with the pattern intensifying substantially after 2020. From 2005 through 2014, Des Moines averaged approximately 2.1 notices annually. Beginning in 2015, the annual notice count jumped to 7, and this elevated level persisted through subsequent years. The period from 2022 through 2025 has been particularly turbulent, with 63 notices filed across just four years—representing 44 percent of all notices in the entire 21-year dataset despite covering only 19 percent of the time period.

The spike in 2022 and 2023, with 21 and 17 notices respectively, coincides with the post-pandemic adjustment period when businesses reassessed their real estate footprints, accelerated automation investments, and consolidated operations expanded during emergency conditions. The continued elevation in 2024 (11 notices) and 2025 (14 notices) suggests that the heightened pace of restructuring has become the new baseline rather than a temporary post-pandemic phenomenon.

This acceleration reflects multiple converging forces: the maturation of automation technologies that have become economically viable for a broader range of business functions, the consolidation wave particularly evident in retail and finance, and the structural shift in consumer behavior toward digital channels that require fewer physical locations and workers. For a city dependent on legacy employers in finance, retail, and manufacturing, these trends create cumulative headwinds.

Retail Decline and the Contraction of Legacy Department Stores

The retail sector's presence in these WARN filings, though appearing modest with only 2 notices affecting 116 workers, understates the significance of retail's role in Des Moines's employment disruption. Kmart filed 2 notices affecting 119 workers, while Sears (encompassing both direct Sears filings and Sears Holdings Company notices) accounted for 2 notices affecting 92 workers combined. These filings captured only the formal WARN notifications; the complete collapse of these retailers involved far more extensive employment losses across the region that may not have triggered WARN requirements at particular locations.

The decline of traditional department stores represents one of the most visible transformations in American retail, driven by the structural shift to e-commerce, the inability of legacy retailers to compete with pure-play online competitors, and the deterioration of enclosed shopping malls as retail destinations. For Des Moines, the loss of these major retailers eliminated not just the direct retail jobs but also the ancillary employment in mall management, maintenance, and adjacent commercial services.

Education and Professional Services: Vulnerable Knowledge Work

Education generated 8 notices affecting 116 workers, driven significantly by AIB College of Business, which filed 8 notices affecting 116 workers—meaning this single institution accounts for the entire documented education sector WARN activity. The repeated filings suggest ongoing restructuring at this institution, likely reflecting the secular decline in enrollment at non-elite private educational institutions and the shift toward credential programs offered through alternative pathways. This pattern reflects national challenges in higher education, where demographic shifts, changing student preferences, and competition from online alternatives have pressured traditional brick-and-mortar institutions.

The Local Economic Impact and Labor Market Implications

The displacement of 6,504 workers across Des Moines's formal economy carries consequences extending far beyond the immediate individuals affected. Each WARN-tracked layoff represents a household losing income, reduced consumer spending capacity, and pressure on local tax bases. The concentration of layoffs in sectors like finance and retail—which traditionally provided stable, middle-class employment—means that displaced workers often face difficulty finding comparable replacement positions.

The persistently elevated pace of layoffs since 2015, and particularly the acceleration since 2021, indicates that Des Moines is experiencing an ongoing labor market reallocation rather than temporary disruption. Workers displaced from Wells Fargo or retail positions cannot easily transition to the types of positions being created in the modern economy without significant retraining. The professional services sector, which filed 2 notices affecting 150 workers, suggests that even higher-skill positions are not immune to restructuring pressures.

The concentration of layoffs among a relatively small number of large employers creates cascading risks. When Wells Fargo repeatedly reduces its workforce, the impact extends through the supply chains serving that employer—office building operators, food service providers, facility maintenance companies, and local commercial landlords all experience reduced demand. Similarly, when transportation and logistics companies reduce operations, they affect warehousing, trucking, and related industries.

Sectoral Concentration and Economic Diversification Imperatives

The sectoral breakdown reveals that Des Moines's economy relies heavily on sectors experiencing structural headwinds. Finance and insurance, transportation, and healthcare combined account for 35 WARN notices affecting 1,689 workers—approximately 60 percent of the documented layoffs. Within these broad categories, the specific companies involved (particularly Wells Fargo and Bridgestone) represent the types of large, legacy employers that traditionally anchored regional economies but now face existential pressures from technology and globalization.

Notably absent from the significant WARN filers are technology companies, advanced manufacturing operations, or knowledge-intensive startups that might represent economic modernization. Dotdash Meredith filed 2 notices affecting 73 workers, representing the closest analogue to a content-creation or digital media employer, but even this company's presence reflects consolidation in digital publishing rather than growth in a high-value sector.

The implication is clear: Des Moines's current employment base is predominantly oriented toward sectors experiencing contraction or consolidation, while the city has not successfully attracted or developed substantial presence in emerging high-skill, high-wage industries. The WARN data function as a proxy for where employment is being destroyed; the absence of large technology, advanced manufacturing, or research and development employers from the list of significant filers indicates where employment is not being created at scale.

The trajectory evident in this data suggests that without deliberate economic development intervention, Des Moines faces a period of continued labor market softening. The elevated WARN notice activity from 2022 forward is not a temporary shock but rather a manifestation of structural economic change. Policymakers and economic development organizations in Des Moines must actively work to attract investment in sectors positioned for growth—advanced manufacturing, technology services, healthcare innovation, and professional services—while simultaneously managing the transition for workers displaced from legacy employers. The scale of displacement evident in these 6,504 documented workers underscores the urgency of this task.