John Deere has now confirmed that they will be laying off 317 production employees at its Waterloo facility. Employees were notified Tuesday that they would be placed on indefinite layoff on April 29th. In a statement from the company to KWWL, John Deere says each factory balances the size of its production workforce with the needs of the individual factory to optimize the workforce at each facility. There are currently around 5,500 employees at the Waterloo facility, with about 3,600 of those working in production and maintenance. Waterloo Mayor Quentin Hart said he was surprised to learn of the layoffs and reached out to the company for further clarification and to determine what accommodations would be made for those employees moving forward.
