John Deere Announced Nearly 200 More Layoffs at Its Iowa Plants During the Holidays. Here’s Why

John Deere is continuing to downsize, announcing nearly 200 more layoffs at its Iowa plants that will occur right after the New Year. Let’s take a look at what we know about this latest move.

John Deere Announces More Layoffs

According to Iowa Agribusiness Radio Network, another round of layoffs is planned at John Deere’s Waterloo Works facility in Iowa, the company’s largest plant. The corporation will lay off 112 employees on Jan. 5, 2025, per the state’s Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification (WARN) website. This is Deere’s sixth round of layoffs in Waterloo, a major tractor manufacturing hub. More than 1,000 individuals have been laid off due to the decline in agricultural revenue forecasts for 2025, which has decreased demand for new machinery.

According to the farming giant, approximately 4,700 workers are employed at Deere’s Waterloo plant, with over 2,700 in production and maintenance roles.

Additionally, the company will dismiss 80 employees from its Davenport Works facility in Iowa, according to WARN. These layoffs will take place on Jan. 3, 2025.

“As we recently said in our fourth-quarter earnings report, difficult market conditions will result in lower demand for our equipment, with net income down $3 billion in fiscal year 2024,” John Deere said in a statement. “We need to continue making adjustments to remain globally competitive.”

It is unclear what support, if any, the company will provide its terminated employees.

Tractor Company Continues Downsizing

Following the July announcement of its scale-back of DEI efforts, John Deere laid off over 100 employees.

“We will no longer participate in or support external social or cultural awareness parades, festivals, or events,” the company said in a statement posted to X, formerly Twitter, at the time of the DEI scale-back announcement.  The move came following criticism from conservative political groups.

Along with “reaffirming within the business that the existence of diversity quotas and pronoun identification have never been and are not company policy,” the Moline, Illinois-based company also announced that it would be “auditing all company-mandated training materials and policies to ensure the absence of socially motivated messages” per local and federal laws.

The Associated Press reported at the time that both the John Deere and Tractor Supply announcements “came after backlash piled up online from conservative activists opposed to diversity, equity and inclusion efforts, sponsorship of LGBTQ+ Pride events and climate advocacy.” Tractor Supply, the retailer, had previously terminated several corporate diversity and climate initiatives.

Then, according to ABC 9, over 100 salaried employees of Deere and Co., which operates under the name John Deere, were fired as of Wednesday, July 24.

The publication received Iowa’s WARN list, which showed that 34 workers in Dubuque and 69 workers in Waterloo were notified and let go. At 9 a.m. that morning, the impacted employees were informed. According to those who discussed the layoffs, talks were happening virtually.

Prior to this, more than 500 additional employees in the Quad Cities were laid off earlier this year in Waterloo and Dubuque, Iowa.

Agricultural manufacturers lay off employees in response to changes in the farm equipment market. According to the WARN list, John Deere had already eliminated 1,473 manufacturing positions in Iowa as of July this year

“As the largest global manufacturer of agricultural equipment, John Deere, like many others in our industry, faces significant economic challenges, rising operational and manufacturing costs, and reduced customer demand, including a 20 percent decline in sales from 2023 to 2024,” the company said in a statement.

The corporation stated at the time that it would offer severance pay, job placement services, reimbursement for unused paid time off, and both short-term and long-term financial compensation benefits to the impacted employees.