John Deere Waterloo Plant Faces Significant Job Cuts Again

Another round of layoffs is striking Waterloo.

Officials from the John Deere plant in Waterloo shared that nearly two-hundred employees will be out of work by the end of this summer.

It has been a rough year for employees at the Waterloo facility.

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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.

Now, there has been word that another round of layoffs is coming...

According to local reports, employees at the Waterloo plant were informed on Monday, May 20th about this.

190 employees will be placed on "indefinite layoff" effective on June 22nd.

Major Waterloo John Deere Project

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.

Not Just Waterloo that's Been Having Layoffs

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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