Layoffs will occur at two central Iowa businesses according to the state’s Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification (WARN) site.
Lennox in Marshalltown will be laying off 62 workers from its Marshalltown factory effective Aug. 1 and FedEx will lay off 84 workers from its 700 W. 9th Street facility effective Sept. 1.
“Lennox has adjusted production operations to normalize inventory levels following the 2025 low-GWP (Global Warming Potential) regulatory transition. As part of this adjustment, we’ve announced a workforce reduction impacting 62 employees. Future staffing will align to business needs,” according to a statement from Lennox.
New regulations went into effect in 2025 designed to reduce the use of hydrofluorocarbon in refrigeration, air conditioning and heat pump systems.
Lennox, which manufactures air conditioners and heat pumps, announced in May of 2024 that it was rolling out low GWP products to meet the new regulations, but the company did not comment on whether any of the those products were being made in Marshalltown.
The FedEx workforce reduction is the result of the company insituting its new Network 2.0 system designed to improve the pickup, transport, and delivery of packages in the U.S. and Canada.
“Team members at the facility were notified several months ago, and many will be offered other roles within the company. These decisions are never taken lightly and reflect our commitment to supporting affected employees –through job placement assistance, relocation aid, or severance, as applicable – while transforming our network and continuing to provide an outstanding experience for our customers,” the company said in a statement.
In the Des Moines area, there are currently seven facilities, employing more than 600 people who will continue to provide customers with their shipping needs, the FedEx statement said.
Lennox, now based in the Dallas, Texas suburb of Richardson since 1978, started in Marshalltown in 1904 when the late D.W. Norris, editor and publisher of the local newspaper, purchased the company from David Lennox in 1904. The company employed 757 people when longtime Lennox CEO John W. Norris died in January of 2024 and has more than 13,000 employees worldwide.
FedEx employs more than 500,000 people worldwide in 220 countries and territories. The company so far has optimized more than 300 stations within the U.S. and Canada handling approximately 2.5 million packages daily, according to information provided by the company.
A Key Point in this article was corrected.
This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: Lennox and FedEx announce central Iowa layoffs affecting 146 workers
Reporting by Kevin Baskins, Des Moines Register / Des Moines Register
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
