Deere & Co. initiated a new round of employment cuts at three plants in Illinois and Iowa, affecting about 610 workers by August 30. More cuts involving an undisclosed number of salaried positions are expected later this month, according to a statement released by Deere, the manufacturer of John Deere farm, forestry, and construction machinery.
"We can confirm Deere leadership recently communicated that rising operational costs and declining market demand requires enterprise-wide changes in how work gets done to achieve our goals and best position the company for the future.”
According to the statement the changes Deere plans are meant to align the workforce to “strategic priorities while simplifying the organization and reducing overlap and redundancy in roles and responsibilities”; ensue Deere factories are optimized for future products and to operate more efficiently”; and eliminate low- and non-value-added tasks, activities, and expenses worldwide.
The newly announced job cuts involve 280 positions from a plant in East Moline, Ill.; 230 jobs in Davenport, Iowa; and about 100 positions in Dubuque, Iowa. The job cuts are made more controversial by an announcement from Deere that some product lines will be transferred from the Dubuque plant to a location in Mexico by the end of 2026.
As of late 2023 Deere had more than 80,000 employees worldwide.
Last month Deere cut its agricultural equipment production in order to fulfill “strategic priorities while reducing overlap and redundancy,” according to its statement filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.
In February Deere made an early retirement offer to workers at its Ottumwa, Iowa, plant, which was followed by some mandatory layoffs there on June 1. In March, Deere announced 150 layoffs at a plant in Ankeny, Iowa, and total of 500 other layoffs at Deere plants during Q2.
