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- Whirlpool Corp. will lay off 651 workers from its Amana manufacturing facility effective June 1.
- The company cites reduced consumer demand for its refrigeration products as the reason for the layoffs.
- Iowa Senate Democratic Leader Janice Weiner blames Republican policies for economic turmoil and criticizes cuts to unemployment compensation.
- Whirlpool CEO Marc Bitzer stated in January that the company would seek to cut costs and prepare for a housing market recovery.
Whirlpool Corp. has announced it is letting go of 651 workers from its manufacturing facility in Amana, effective June 1, in the largest single Iowa layoff since Tyson Foods last spring shut down its 1,200-worker pork plant in Perry.
A statement from Whirlpool blamed the layoffs on reduced consumer demand, primarily refrigeration units.
“This is really about aligning to current market conditions driven by consumer demand, particularly as it relates to the some of the appliances (refrigeration) made in Amana,” the statement said.
The layoff will affect nearly one-third of the company’s workforce of 2,000 employees in Amana. Whirlpool has $17 billion in annual sales and 44,000 employees worldwide, according to its website.
The company said it is “committed to supporting affected employees through this transition by providing access to onsite HR support and a dedicated employee support line, an employee assistance program, and guidance on unemployment benefits through Iowa Workforce Development.”
Iowa Workforce Development in its recent report on February unemployment noted that manufacturing has shed the most jobs of any sector over the last 12 months in Iowa, at 7,600, and that most of those losses, 5,600, were from companies that make durable goods — a sector that include appliances.
Iowa Senate Democratic Leader Janice Weiner of Iowa City responded to the layoff announcement with a statement Tuesday decrying Republican-led cuts in Iowa unemployment compensation and blaming Republican policies for economic turmoil.
“Alarm bells should be sounding in our communities,” Weiner said. “The Bureau of Economic Analysis showed in a release last week that Iowa is one of just two states where real GDP has contracted. Our agriculture economy is worsening, on-again-off-again tariffs are exacerbating existing issues, and Iowans hardly go a week without seeing another round of layoffs.”
In another statement, the International Association of Machinists, which represents workers at the plant, said, “This is a community that relies heavily on good IAM Union jobs that help sustain thousands of families in the Amana area. We are working together with our members to ensure that the company respects our membership’s rights throughout this process. We are also reaching out to local stakeholders and elected officials to secure any support possible for our membership. The IAM Union will continue to work to mitigate the impacts of this announcement and maintain the job security of all our members at Whirlpool.”
Whirlpool stock has declined almost 65% from its five-year high of $252.95, reached in May 2021. It was trading at $90.85 around midday Tuesday.
In a news release accompany a disappointing Whirlpool earnings report in January, Whirlpool chair and CEO Marc Bitzer said the company would look to cut $200 million in costs “and position our business for the eventual U.S. housing recovery.”
The Amana brand was founded in 1934 by George Foerstner in Middle Amana and was credited with many firsts in the appliance industry, including the first upright freezer in 1947, the first side-by-side refrigerator in 1949 and the first consumer microwave, the famous Radarange, in 1967, according to the Amana brand website.
The Amana brand name was sold to Goodman Manufacturing in 1997 and then again to Maytag in 2002. Whirlpool acquired the Amana brand name in 2006 through its purchase of Maytag.
Kevin Baskins covers jobs and the economy for the Des Moines Register. Reach him at kbaskins@registermedia.com.
This story was updated to add a video.
