Eastern Iowa Braces for Impact as John Deere Announces Layoffs

Hundreds of people in the Cedar Valley will be out of the job this year.

News broke on Tuesday, March 26th that John Deere would be laying off a significant number of their workforce in Waterloo.

According to reports, the layoffs will take effect very soon.

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Layoffs In Waterloo

The Midwest manufacturing giant employs approximately 5,500 people in their Waterloo location, according to reports. 

As of April 29th, 2024, that number will shrink significantly.

Waterloo happens to be the largest of the company's tractor production factories.

Higher ups at John Deere released a statement confirming that 308 production employees at the plant would be placed on "indefinite layoff."

"Each John Deere factory balances the size of its production workforce with the needs of the individual factory to optimize the workforce at each facility," officials said in a statement.

Major Projects Going on at Waterloo John Deere Factory

This news comes fresh off the announcement of plans for one of the company’s biggest tractors that has ever created to be manufactured in the Waterloo factory.

News came out in February that the project that was conceived in the Cedar Valley would be built in the Cedar Valley.

“This is one of the largest product launches in our company’s history, and it reflects John Deere’s commitment to seeking input from our customers and delivering quality solutions that unlock new value for their operations,” said Aaron Wetzel, Vice President of Production & Precision Agriculture Production Systems.

Production on this tractor, the 9RX830 will begin in the next fiscal year. Read more about it here.

John Deere Layoffs in 2024

This is not the first announcement that John Deere has made this year, either.

Officials for the plant in Ankeny announced approximately 150 people would be laid off in the next few months.

Most of these jobs are for maintenance and factory positions in the case of Ankeny.

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