Whirlpool Corp. has announced another round of layoffs at its plant in Middle Amana, adding 288 workers to cuts that now total 879 jobs since last summer.
The plant, which makes refrigerators under brands including Whirlpool, Amana, Maytag and KitchenAid, once supported 3,000 employees. The layoffs will take effect July 5, according to a notice Whirlpool filed Thursday, June 4, on Iowa’s Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification, or WARN, website.
The Michigan-based company’s layoffs began with 250 in July 2025, followed by 341 in February. It is the largest employer in mostly rural Iowa County.
The plant’s decline prompted a March letter to Whirlpool CEO Marc Bitzer from U.S. Rep. Mariannette Miller-Meeks, a Republican representing Iowa’s 1st District, which includes Middle Amana.
“These layoffs would hollow out a community and undermine the very domestic manufacturing base that American workers have spent decades building,” Miller-Meeks wrote.
Bitzer responded in a letter of his own that Whirlpool has invested more than $150 million in the plant in recent years, but that industry headwinds are forcing the company’s hand.
“Of the major appliances we sell in the U.S., 80 percent are produced in our U.S. plants,” Bitzer wrote. “That’s three times more than the average of our major competitors. As the last major American appliance manufacturer, Whirlpool is under constant pressure to ensure our industry-leading American domestic manufacturing footprint is competitive with our foreign peers. The Amana facility has felt this pressure even more acutely, as our competitors produce nearly all of this product type abroad.”
Bitzer said in a May earnings call that North American demand for major appliances like refrigerators and dishwashers is at its lowest point since the 2008 financial crisis. Whirlpool’s stock price opened around $40 on Friday, following a precipitous decline from a yearly high of $110.59 in July 2025.
In February, the company said it planned a “multiyear modernization plan that will transform the plant into a dynamic operation,” and that the Amana plant “will continue to produce two-door bottom-mount and French door refrigerators.” Whirlpool told the Register that it plans to invest in the coming years in the Amana facility to “expand operations and upgrade the types of products produced in the facility. “
Union alleges cuts at Iowa plant result from shifting work to Mexico
In the wake of the February layoffs, the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers accused Whirlpool of displacing American workers in favor of Mexico, where Whirlpool also has a large refrigerator manufacturing operation. The union, whose branch in Middle Amana represents hourly workers at the Whirlpool plant, reiterated that concern in a statement published Friday by KGAN-TV.
“Whirlpool has been aggressively expanding its manufacturing footprint in Mexico,” the union previously told the Des Moines Register, “recently completing a major refrigerator plant expansion in Ramos Arizpe, Coahuila, in 2024, investing $65 million into its Celaya, Guanajuato facility, and designating Mexico as the sole producer of its French Door refrigerator line, a product exported almost entirely back to American and Canadian consumers.”
In his letter to Rep. Miller-Meeks, Bitzer said the plant’s necessary modernization is behind the layoffs, not its manufacturing footprint in Mexico.
Neither the union nor Whirlpool was immediately available for further comment Friday.
Israel Schuman covers retailing and jobs for the Des Moines Register. Reach him at ieschuman@registermedia.com.
This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: Whirlpool announces more Iowa layoffs, bringing recent total to 879
Reporting by Israel Schuman, Des Moines Register / Des Moines Register
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By Israel Schuman, Des Moines Register | USA TODAY Network
