FOREST CITY – Forest City’s largest employer, Winnebago Industries, is set to lay off 33 employees from the local plant next month.
According to the Iowa Employer WARN notification site, the layoffs will commence on November 22 in Forest City, where nearly 2,000 workers toil. The company claims it will assist employees as they are let go.
Winnebago re-organized earlier this year when they closed a Charles City plant and sent those operations to Lake Mills, where it had expanded to back in 2013.
It was just two years ago that Winnebago announced it had produced its 500,000th motorhome, becoming the first industry brand to reach the milestone.
According to a Full Year Fiscal 2024 Financial Summary released by Winnebago Industries this week, the company had revenues of $2,973.5 million and a gross profit of $433.5 million, representing 14.6% gross margin.
“Winnebago Industries’ fourth quarter performance fell short of our expectations, primarily reflecting the sluggish retail demand environment and operating inefficiencies within our Winnebago branded businesses,” said Michael Happe, the Company’s President and Chief Executive Officer. “The RV industry continues to face various headwinds, including uncertain retail conditions, higher inventory carrying costs and slightly elevated inventories in the motorhome segment, leading to continued dealer hesitancy and increased promotional efforts. Despite the challenging operating conditions, in the fourth quarter we continued to focus on the variables within our control. We prioritized profitability and cash generation, aggressively managed inventory, and invested in new products and technologies to drive future growth.”