While John Deere remains silent on the scope and size of the workforce reductions it made this week, the State of Iowa’s WARN website shows a total of 170 employees were let go at three of its Iowa locations: Waterloo, Dubuque and Johnston. According to the Workers Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act (WARN) notices filed […]
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While John Deere remains silent on the scope and size of the workforce reductions it made this week, the State of Iowa’s WARN website shows a total of 170 employees were let go at three of its Iowa locations: Waterloo, Dubuque and Johnston.
According to the Workers Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act (WARN) notices filed Wednesday, July 24, with Iowa Workforce Development, Deere made these employee cuts effective immediately in what was labeled as a “Mass Layoff”:
- John Deere Waterloo Works, 69 employees.
- John Deere Dubuque Works, 34 employees.
- John Deere Financial, in Johnston, 67 employees.
On Wednesday, the Moline-based equipment maker confirmed that it had begun reductions of its global salaried workforce but declined to identify the number and locations of the impacted employees.
Under Iowa’s WARN Act, employers are required to notify the state when layoffs are planned.
In Illinois, employers with 75 or more full-time workers are required to file a WARN notice if 25 or more full-time employees are laid off, and they represent one-third or more of the employees at the site. If 250 or more full-time employees are laid off at a single site, the employer also is required to file a WARN notice.
The Illinois WorkNet Center website did not show any recent WARN notices for Deere, but the latest notices posted today, July 26, were dated as of Monday, July 22.
While the WARN notices offer some insight into the Iowa workers impacted, Deere has not released any specific details on the salaried cutbacks including whether employees at its world headquarters in Moline were impacted. It also is not clear if more workforce reductions are planned.
In an email to the QCBJ today, July 26, the company indicated it would not be releasing any additional details on the workforce reduction.
In a 2023 report, Deere’s said it employed 82,200 worldwide.
In a brief statement released Wednesday to the media, Deere said it was forced “to make tough decisions including layoffs at John Deere production facilities and reductions in our global salaried workforce.”
The company also said it was offering the affected salaried employees in the U.S. up to 12 months of severance pay based on years of service; pro-rated short term incentive and long-term incentive cash compensation benefits, payment of any earned and unused vacation or paid time off; and access to ongoing health and wellness benefits; and 12 months of professional job placement services.
The salaried job cuts come on the heels of hundreds of previously announced layoffs of Deere production workers in recent months as the agricultural manufacturing giant has tried to align production levels with a declining demand for its equipment.
Deere has pointed to the downturn in the ag economy as the reason for continued workforce cuts, including at several of its Midwest manufacturing plants.
“As the largest global manufacturer of agricultural equipment, John Deere, like many others in the industry, faces significant economic challenges, rising operational and manufacturing costs, and reduced customer demand, including a 20 percent decline in sales from 2023 to 2024,” the Wednesday statement said.
In its latest earnings report in May, Deere said it expects large farm equipment sales to drop between 20% to 25% below last year's totals.
The company’s statement released earlier this week ended with this: “While the decision to reduce roles across the company was a challenging one, the company is confident that these adjustments, coupled with our ongoing efforts to reduce costs and align production and inventory levels, will position John Deere strongly for the future.”
