WATERLOO, Iowa (KCRG) – Officials with John Deere have announced 308 production employees with Deere’s Waterloo Operations, will be placed on indefinite layoff, beginning April 29th. Employees learned of the layoffs Tuesday during meetings led by factory leadership.

In a statement, John Deere says each of their factories “balances the size of its production workforce with the needs of the individual factory to optimize the workforce at each facility.”

Currently, John Deere Waterloo Operations says they have about 5,500 employees, 3,600 of which work in production and maintenance jobs.