WPBN: On Tuesday morning, more than 100 Waterloo John Deere employees were informed that they would not have a job following the holidays.
It follows Deere’s announcement of a $7 billion net income for the previous year two weeks ago. That represents a 16% drop from the previous year.
Since the start of 2024, John Deere has laid off more than 1,700 workers in Iowa.
The majority of the layoffs have occurred in Waterloo. On Tuesday morning, 112 workers at the John Deere Waterloo Works were informed that January 3 would be their last day. This raises the number of layoffs to almost 1,000 in Waterloo alone.
After the new year, 80 employees in Davenport will also lose their employment. The layoffs will begin on January 3 and were first announced in October.
Earlier this year, 166 workers were let go from a John Deere plant in Des Moines, and 133 workers were let go from a Deere plant in Dubuque.
Due to difficult market conditions, the company informed TV9 that it has observed a decline in demand for its products. According to the USDA, commodity prices for commodities like corn and soybeans are expected to decline.
John Deere provided the following explanations for the decline in orders:
- After a 5% drop last year, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) predicts that major row-crop cash payments will drop by further 18% in 2024.
- Additionally, the USDA predicts that the new crop’s (crops produced this fall) marketing year average prices will continue to fall from the previous year and will be down more than 30% from a few years ago (compared to 2022: corn -37%, soybeans -24%, and wheat -35%).
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The corporation also claims that the decline in new home development has an effect on its construction segment. The business stated:
- Single-family home sales are down 30%, single-family housing starts are down 10%, and multi-family housing starts are down 40% in the building sector compared to its high in 2021.
- The current interest rate level is still high in comparison to prior history, even with minor interest rate reductions.
For a while following their termination, laid-off workers will continue to get financial and medical benefits.
