John Deere Laying Off Workers In Waterloo

Deere and Company has announced more layoffs. The latest round will impact employees at operations in Waterloo.

On Friday (August 22, 2014), company officials announced that about 460 workers at the Waterloo operations will be placed on indefinite layoff due to a lower demand for agricultural equipment. The layoffs are effective October 20th.

A week ago, the world's largest farm equipment manufacturer announced the indefinite layoff off 600 workers at four other Midwest plants – Moline and East Moline, Illinois; Coffeyville, Kansas; and Ankeny, Iowa. The layoffs also begin October 20th.

The layoffs come as no surprise, following the release of Deere's latest earnings report on August 13th. At that time, Deere reported that fiscal third-quarter profits fell 15 percent due to weaker farm equipment sales. Company officials indicated then that Deere would scale back agricultural equipment production for the remainder of the year.

Deere and Company is the largest employer in the Cedar Valley. John Deere employs about 6,000 people at plants in Waterloo and Cedar Falls.