Just two weeks after its last layoff announcement, Wells Fargo is once again paring back the workforce at its Jordan Creek office campus in West Des Moines, this time by 25 workers, effective June 13.
The Wednesday, April 15, posting on the state’s Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification, or WARN, site follows one by the San Francisco-based bank affecting 62 workers, effective May 30.
Wells Fargo has cut 65,000 of the 275,000 positions nationwide it had in 2019, when CEO Charlie Scharf joined the company. In the Des Moines metro, Wells Fargo has pared its workforce in nine rounds since September, eliminating a total of 311 jobs. Since April 2022, it has cut 1,562 jobs in 97 announced layoffs, according to WARN data, with many more jobs lost to attrition.
As 2026 began, Scharf cautioned there would be additional workforce cuts, saying artificial intelligence will change the way the business works.
The company did not immediately respond to a request for comment, but in the past has said it regularly reviews and adjusts staffing levels to align with market conditions. It says it strives to find opportunities for affected employees in other parts of the company whenever possible.
Once the Des Moines metro’s largest employer, Wells Fargo was eclipsed by West Des Moines-based Hy-Vee in 2023.
The latest Iowa layoff notices did not indicate in which divisions Wells Fargo was reducing jobs, and the company has declined to specify when asked in connection with previous layoffs. Its home mortgage division, heavily concentrated in the Des Moines metro, has throttled back amid higher interest rates and lower demand, and the company has sold its once-extensive downtown Des Moines office complex, concentrating its workers at the Jordan Creek facility.
Wells Fargo is the nation’s fourth-largest bank, with about $1.77 trillion in assets, but is less than half the size of the biggest bank, JPMorgan Chase, which has more than $3.8 trillion in assets.
Kevin Baskins covers jobs and the economy for the Des Moines Register. Reach him at kbaskins@registermedia.com.
This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: Wells Fargo announces more layoffs in West Des Moines
Reporting by Kevin Baskins, Des Moines Register / Des Moines Register
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