Iowa City ACT headquarters cuts jobs

March 2, 2018

Teacher Svetlana Djananova monitors students as they take an ACT test in preparation for the college admission exam at HS2 Academy in Arcadia, Calif. (Anne Cusack/Los Angeles Times/TNS)

ACT, 500 Act Drive, announced Feb. 28 the company would cutting 100 jobs from its 1,200-member workforce, according to a press release.

“These moves are being made to ensure we have the right capabilities as we reprioritize our work,” ACT CEO Marten Roorda said in the release. “We are focusing on the outcomes most essential to fully realizing our transformation to a learning company, which means ending work that is not fully aligned to our strategic direction.”

Roorda said in the release that ACT is financially sound and that the staffing changes were difficult but necessary.

ACT is set to provide severance packages “that exceed industry norms,” as well as outplacement services and support to those affected by the cuts, according to the release.

While ACT does employ people outside Iowa City, the majority of employees are in the city, according to the release. Approximately 80 percent of ACTs workforce is in Iowa City, Edward Colby, the senior director of media and public relations for ACT, said in an email to The Daily Iowan.

-Naomi Hofferber