Wells Fargo announced its largest layoff in at least five years at its Jordan Creek campus in West Des Moines — 86 employees, out the door Dec. 26.
The WARN notice, posted Tuesday Oct. 27, is the bank's 16th round of cuts since February. It brings the 2026 Iowa total to 460 — and the Des Moines metro total to 1,975 jobs cut across 113 rounds since April 2022.
For context: headcount has now fallen every quarter for six years, down 30% from its Q2 2020 peak. In Q3 alone, the bank shed 3,097 employees, ending September at 194,369 — while posting $6.0 billion in net income, EPS up 13%.
CEO Scharf has said AI will keep bringing headcount down. The bank didn't say which divisions the 86 are in, or whether any will be retained elsewhere.
Source: Des Moines Register, Oct 29, 2026; Iowa WARN