A total of 481 layoffs were announced on Iowa’s Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification, or WARN, website in February, with Whirlpool Corp.’s refrigerator plant in Middle Amana accounting for most of the lost jobs.
Whirlpool announced Feb. 17 that it would be laying off 341 workers on March 9. The move triggered claims by the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers, the union representing employees at the plant, that jobs were being moved to another Whirlpool plant in Mexico.
Michigan-based Whirlpool, the only remaining U.S.-headquartered maker of large appliances, denied the claim, saying the cuts will make way for a modernization of the 85-year-old plant and will ultimately bring more jobs.
Cedar Valley Corp. LLC also announced in February that it will be closing its doors in March as long-time President and CEO Stephen R. Jackson retires from the business started by his late father, Robins Jackson.
Jackson said equipment from the paving firm, founded in Waterloo in 1971, was being sold to Concrete Technologies Inc., of Des Moines, resulting in the layoffs of 89 workers.
In an interview with the Des Moines Register, Jackson said the company is helping the affected workers find other jobs and he is confident they will be successfully placed due to high demand for employees in the concrete paving trade.
Wells Fargo once again appeared on the WARN list, announcing Feb. 3 that it will lay off 49 employees from its Jordan Creek in West Des Moines campus on April 4. On Feb. 17, it announced the layoff of two additional employees, effective April 18.
The San Francisco-based bank has cut 1,526 jobs in 97 announced layoffs in the Des Moines metro since April 2022, according to WARN data, with many more jobs lost to attrition.
February’s layoffs follow the Jan. 23 posting on the WARN site of farm and construction manufacturer CNH’s plan for the multi-stage closure of its Burlington facility, concluding in late May.
London-based CNH announced in November 2025 its intention to close the plant, where the backhoe was invented. The biggest layoffs will occur on April 2, when 52 workers are let go, followed May 1 with another 42 layoffs. Other jobs will be cut at various points during the spring.
The WARN site shows the final 24 exiting May 29.
Kevin Baskins covers jobs and the economy for the Register. Reach him at kbaskins@registermedia.com.
This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: Iowa saw 481 layoffs announced in February. Most were from Whirlpool
Reporting by Kevin Baskins, Des Moines Register / Des Moines Register
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