Deere & Co. today announced more than 230 people have been placed on layoff at three of its Midwest manufacturing facilities – including two in the Quad Cities.
The Moline-based manufacturer confirmed the layoffs in a brief news release issued Friday afternoon, Aug. 15. The company held a series of meetings earlier Friday to share the news directly with impacted employees.
“Due to decreased demand and lower order volumes, the following factories will be implementing workforce reductions in the coming weeks,” the statement said:
- Harvester Works in East Moline, 115 layoffs. (Last day of work Friday, Aug. 29.)
- Seeding and Cylinder in Moline, 52 layoffs. (Last day of work Friday, Sept. 26.)
- John Deere Foundry in Waterloo, Iowa, 71 layoffs. (Last day of work, Friday Sept. 19.)
The announcement came one day after the company reported net income of $1.289 billion, or $4.75 per share, for the third quarter, ended July 27. The results compared with net income of $1.734 billion, or $6.29 per share, for the quarter ended July 28, 2024.
Higher tariffs and lower commodity prices are impacting the ag industry and lowering demand for Deere equipment.
On Thursday, Aug. 14, a few Quad Cities media outlets had reported Deere was expected to lay off more than 800 workers, referencing records from the Illinois Department of Commerce & Economic Opportunity (DCEO), which Deere refuted.
Also on Friday, DCEO issued an apology for incorrectly reporting more than 800 layoffs at the Harvester Works on Thursday, Aug. 14, on a workforce portal it manages. The DCEO statement said “There was an internal error, which has now been corrected. We sincerely apologize for the oversight, and we are evaluating our processes to ensure a similar error does not occur in the future. We appreciate members of the media bringing this to our attention.”
The John Deere Harvester Works plant has seen a workforce reduction of more than 1,000 since 2023.
In its statement Friday, Deere said “The struggling ag economy continues to impact orders for John Deere equipment. This is a challenging time for many farmers, growers and producers, and directly impacts our business in the near term.”
Deere, which saw sales decreases across all its equipment divisions in the third quarter, added: “As the entire ag sector navigates these challenges, John Deere continues to provide customers the high-quality equipment they deserve while strengthening the foundations of U.S. manufacturing.”
Despite the layoffs, the company said its remains “committed to keeping our U.S. manufacturing footprint strong, viable and competitive.”
As recently reported by the QCBJ, Deere plans to invest nearly $20 billion over the next decade upgrading its U.S. plants. “This is on top of recent U.S. investments to open new facilities and expand/modernize others,” the latest statement said.
Among the modernization projects is a major overhaul of Harvester Works.
Deere said the laid-off workers will receive weekly supplemental employment benefit (SUB) pay and may be covered by Transitional Assistance (TAB) pay, after the SUB pay is exhausted.
Laid-off workers also will receive profit sharing if they are eligible and can extend their health insurance for at least six months, or as long as they are eligible for SUB pay, whichever is longer. Other benefits they may receive include: life insurance, legal assistance, tuition reimbursement and job-placement assistance.
