Deere offers severance, benefits for newly laid off workers

WATERLOO — Deere & Co. provided details Thursday on the severance package offered to salaried employees who learned Wednesday they had lost their jobs.

Sixty-nine salaried employees at Deere & Co.'s Waterloo Works and another 34 in Dubuque were let go Wednesday, according to the state's Iowa WARN website.

"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," Deere said in an email to The Courier.

"This reduction in product demand and increased operational costs have unfortunately forced us to make tough decisions including layoffs at John Deere production facilities and reductions in our global salaried workforce.“

The company said that, for salaried workers laid off, it would provide up to 12 months of severance, based on years of service; access to health and wellness benefits; payment for earned but unused vacation time or paid tie off; and prorated incentive payments.

"While the decision to reduce roles across the company was a challenging one, the company is confident that these adjustments, coupled with our ongoing efforts to reduce costs and align production and inventory levels, will position John Deere strongly for the future," the statement read.

In early July, Deere informed employees the company will lay off another 345 Waterloo workers effective Sept. 20. The company also laid off seven employees at John Deere Coffeyville Works in Coffeyville, Kansas, effective Aug. 9.

The company said this month that John Deere Waterloo Operations currently has about 5,000 total employees with about 3,000 working in production and maintenance jobs.

On July 1, Deere confirmed 280 employees will be laid off effective Aug. 30 at a Moline, Illinois, factory, along with 299 production employees at John Deere Davenport Works and 111 workers at John Deere Dubuque works.

On June 5, Deere announced more than 120 job cuts at Seeding and Cylinder Operations in Moline. The day before Deere announced it was eliminating 58 jobs at John Deere Intelligent Solutions Group in Urbandale, 49 jobs at John Deere Waterloo Works and 16 jobs at John Deere Des Moines Works.

In May, 34 were laid off at Cylinder Works in Moline and 190 in Waterloo. That came after it was announced in April that 308 workers at the Waterloo factory would be laid off by the end of that month.

Last fall, 225 were laid off at Harvester Works in East Moline, bringing the total of laid off workers between September and Wednesday to nearly 2,000.

The company said this month that John Deere Waterloo Operations currently has about 5,000 total employees with about 3,000 working in production and maintenance jobs. It said it employs about 30,000 people in more than 60 U.S.-based facilities in 16 states.