Amazon filling about 1K jobs shortly after manufacturing layoffs
TV6 Investigates looks at the job market in the Quad-Cities
DAVENPORT, Iowa (KWQC) - The Quad-Cities has seen at least 365 layoffs in just the past 12 days.
First, John Deere announced 225 at its Harvester Works in East Moline.
Two days later, a fire devastated Sivyer Steel in Bettendorf – permanently eliminating its 140 jobs.
Hard hits to the manufacturing industry.
Meanwhile, the Amazon fulfillment center in Davenport is expected to help soften the blow from the Quad-Cities layoffs. The retail giant plans to employ about a thousand workers.
According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics:
- The Quad-Cities employs about 180,000 people.
- Of those, more than 25,000 are in manufacturing.
- That’s 14% of the area’s overall workforce
A typical Quad-Cities manufacturer makes $22 an hour. Amazon is starting employees in Davenport at $16.50.
Bill Polley, an economist at the Chamber of Commerce, said the jobs at Amazon could be a short layover for those recently laid off.
“When a new employer like Amazon moves in, certainly it will take some of those workers who’ve been laid off – the skills are not completely transferable – but some people may use that job temporarily until they find something else, or they may decide to stay in a job like that.”
Amazon was set to open in August, but officials are now telling me it’ll be sometime before January.
Polley said the good news is that since the end of the pandemic, the Quad Cities labor market has been quite strong.
And the bad news?
“Nationwide, labor markets have started to slow down a little bit, we’re starting to see that happen in the Quad-Cities.”
Analysts are closely watching to see if a national recession happens soon. And if that’s the case, there could be more job reductions to come.
“If we can somehow avoid a full-blown recession and have more of a soft landing, that would help us avoid some of the major layoffs people anticipated.”
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