Collins Aerospace had laid off 160 workers from its operations in Cedar Rapids, according to a notice posted Friday on the Iowa Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification (WARN) Act website.
According to the WARN notification, the workers were notified of the layoffs on March 13, and the layoffs will be effective April 14.
A Collins Aerospace spokesperson had previously confirmed some positions were being cut in Cedar Rapids, but didn’t specify the number of employees impacted or the reasons for the layoffs.
“To ensure we are best positioned to address our customers’ greatest needs now and into the future, we are taking actions to reduce costs and optimize our organizational structure globally,” a company statement said. “This includes conducting a small reduction of positions. These actions will allow us to reinvest in high-priority programs, reduce complexity and increase efficiency to better meet the strong demand for aerospace products.”
The spokesperson did not indicate which portions of the company’s operations were affected.
The WARN notification system “requires employers with 100 or more employees to give 60 calendar day written notice when there is a plant closing or mass layoff.”
“This protects workers, their families, and communities,” the Iowa WARN site says. “The notice provides employees time to prepare for the potential loss of their jobs, find new employment, and, if necessary, enroll in training.”
Collins Aerospace has nearly 9,000 employees in Iowa, most in Cedar Rapids, where two of the company’s divisions – Mission Systems and Avionics – are based. The company has laid off an estimated 248 employees statewide since September 2020, most recently cutting 68 positions in Cedar Rapids in October 2023.
