Hundreds of layoffs are expected at Deere & Co. Iowa facilities including at operations in Waterloo, Ankeney and Urbandale. That’s according to Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notifications (WARN) posted on the Iowa Workforce Development website.
The layoffs are expected to come on Thursday, June 6, and more are planned later this month.
Multiple media sources also have been reporting that John Deere leaders recently sent an email to salaried employees warning of plans to layoff global production and management workforce in the next few months.
Various news and agricultural media have quoted from a letter, which Quad Citians say had been received locally by Deere employees. The letter reportedly attributes the impending cuts to rising operational costs and declining product demand.
When asked by the QCBJ today, June 4, to confirm those layoff reports and provide additional details, a spokesman at John Deere headquarters in Moline said in an email that the company did not have “any additional information to share at this time.”
According to the WARN layoff notifications filed with Iowa Workforce, the next round of layoffs is anticipated at these Deere plants as of June 6: John Deere Des Moines Works in Ankeny, 16 layoffs; John Deere Intelligence Solutions, Urbandale, 58; and John Deere Waterloo Works, 49.
The WARN Act requires employers with 100 or more employees to give a 60 calendar day written notice when there is a plant closing or mass layoff, according to Iowa Workforce’s website.
May saw other layoffs
The impending June layoffs are in addition to 60 layoffs previously reported through the WARN process to Iowa Workforce. The WARN notices show 30 layoffs on May 6 and another 30 layoffs on May 20 were expected – all at Des Moines Works.
The reports come on the heels of Deere’s second quarter earnings report, released May 16, in which the company again lowered its full-year outlook for net income.
With demand for its green machines further softening and farmers facing economic pressures from falling crop prices and rising interest rates, Deere forecast full-year net income to be $7 billion, which is down from its previous estimated range of $7.5 billion to $7.75 billion.
In its earnings report, Deere said net income for the first six months of the year was $4.121 billion, which compared with $4.819 billion, for the same period in 2023. It also reported net income of $2.370 billion for the second quarter, ended April 28, compared with net income of $2.860 billion for the same quarter last year.
The equipment manufacturer also had lowered its forecast in its first quarter earnings report.
