Just How Many Iowa Jobs Did John Deere Cut This Year?

In July, John Deere announced that there would be layoffs all across the company.

Company officials gave the following explanation for the most recent round of layoffs;

"Despite our efforts to contain costs and optimize production and inventory levels, the strategies we have implemented – including a global hiring freeze – have proven insufficient in addressing the challenges posed by declining customer demand, rising costs, and prevailing economic uncertainties crucial for ensuring the long-term health of our business."

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On July 24th, reports confirmed that John Deere 103 workers, 34 in Dubuque and 69 in Waterloo were laid off.

There is no word yet on just how many more employees have been laid off all across the country.

John Deere's Year of Layoffs for Waterloo

At the beginning of 2024, the Midwest manufacturing giant employed approximately 5,500 people in their Waterloo location, according to reports. 

On April 29th, 2024, that number shrunk significantly.

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

308 production employees at the plant were 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.

John Deere Job Cuts in the Last Year

A recent article from the Waterloo-Cedar Falls Courier compiled a timeline of the job cuts over the past ten months in Iowa and Illinois.

The first wave of layoffs began in the fall of last year. In October 2023 225 employees were let go at Harvester Works, East Moline.

For a few months, it seemed like things were improving, but then the spring brought some upsetting news. In April, 398 employees were laid off in Waterloo and Ankeny. Then an additional 94 workers were let go in Moline and Ankeny.

Those layoffs didn't taper off when summer hit. They resumed with a vengeance in June and July with 916 workers losing their jobs at the Ankeny, Waterloo, Urbandale, Moline, East Moline, Dubuque, and Johnston locations.

By October of this year, it is presumed that 2,701 jobs will have been lost at the Midwest manufacturing giant.

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