Iowa’s Workforce Crisis Deepens as New Report Reveals 15,300 Lost Jobs in 2025 Alone

DES MOINES, IA – New data from Iowa’s Workforce Development reveals that Iowa lost 15,300 jobs in 2025, underscoring a growing workforce crisis impacting families, businesses, and communities across Iowa.

Trade, transportation, and utilities led the losses, cutting 6,900 jobs — including steep drops in retail and wholesale. Leisure and hospitality followed, down 6,100 jobs, while manufacturing lost another 4,200. That’s not one sector struggling — that’s job losses hitting across the board in the industries Iowa workers and families depend on every day.

“Losing more than 15,000 jobs in a single year is a warning sign that something is seriously wrong. The first thing to do when you’re in a hole is to stop digging, and that starts with changing leadership in the governor’s office,” said candidate for governor Rob Sand. “Iowa has always been a place where if you work hard, you can get ahead, but right now too many people are working just as hard and falling further behind. We should be fighting for good-paying jobs, investing in the next generation, and making sure companies want to grow here — not watching opportunity slip away while insiders stoke culture wars instead of fixing the problems facing Iowans.”

The trend has carried into 2026, with more layoffs hitting communities across the state. In February, Whirlpool Corporation announced it would cut 341 jobs from its Amana facility — following 250 layoffs last year and a steep workforce decline over the past five years. On top of that, MercyOne announced multiple rounds of layoffs in Mason City and Des Moines, along with the closure of its Ottumwa Family and Internal Medicine Clinic, leaving a community without care and forcing patients to travel more than 40 miles just to see a doctor. For many Iowa families, this isn’t abstract — it’s jobs lost, care delayed, and more uncertainty about what comes next.