It’s been rough for a lot of companies — even major ones – post-pandemic. Getting things back on track Americans is proving to be a lot harder than anticipated.

In July of 2024, John Deere announced that they would be laying off more than 600 of their employees, trimming the fat from their production line.

But for one husband and wife, that meant both lost their jobs at John Deere.

Being laid off from your job is a traumatic experience. Anyone who has gotten the call, whether on the phone or to the big office, then told of their dismissal … it’s not something you quickly forget.

The layoffs hit a particular couple in Iowa really hard: Both Mathew Shiltz and his wife were laid off from Davenport Works on the same day.

“It was tough. I mean, we kind of already knew it. When I had heard it I was, I was on second shift,” Shiltz recalls, “So the first-shift meeting had already happened. So when I got to work at noon that day, people had told me and we kind of knew it was happening beforehand.”

A union rep for John Deere employees issued a fierce statement after the layoffs:

“Let’s be clear: there is no need for Deere to kill good American jobs and outsource them to Mexico for cheap labor. The company is forecasted to make $7 billion in profit this year. CEO John May’s total compensation for 2023 was $26.8 million.”

Then, John Deere made a statement of their own:

“As the largest global manufacturer of agricultural equipment, John Deere, like many others in the industry, faces significant economic challenges, including rising global operational and manufacturing costs, and reduced customer demand.”

The Shiltz family is struggling as a result of the double layoffs and trying to come up for air by taking odd jobs just to keep the lights on.

“I went and helped a guy move a washer, do some mowing, just try and pick up some cash jobs to keep my unemployment, you know, but that’s it. It’s going to be hard for me, really hard,” the husband says.

It’s hard seeing nice people take a hit like this.

Evan Paul is the host of Taste of Country Nights, a syndicated radio show heard on more than 130 country radio stations nationwide, every night from 7PM to midnight. He plays the best new country music and interviews today’s top stars, like Luke Combs, Morgan Wallen, Kenny Chesney, Miranda Lambert, Dan + Shay, Keith Urban, Carrie Underwood, Luke Bryan, Chris Stapleton, Lady A, + more!