John Deere is laying off even more workers – while moving manufacturing to Mexico.
On Wednesday. the tractor maker told officials in Iowa and Illinois that nearly 300 workers are being laid off as demand slumps.
About 200 production workers will be laid off in East Moline, Illinois. Additionally, 80 workers in Davenport, Iowa will also lose their jobs, along with seven in Moline, Illinois.
It is the latest batch of layoffs this year, after 103 jobs were also cut in July, for the company founded 187 years ago.
The total this year is now around 2,100. They layoffs are across several Iowa sites – Ankeny, Dubuque, Ottumwa, Urbandale, Waterloo – plus Davenport and East Moline in Illinois, as well as a research center in Urbandale.
But the company said Wednesday that the layoffs are unrelated to its production moving to Mexico.
Instead, bosses attributed the job cuts to a decline in demand for tractors and other agricultural equipment, which has resulted from falling crop prices and farmers reducing their expenditures.
Movement of production to Mexico has attracted the attention of politicians.
Donald Trump said in September that he will slap a 200 percent tariff on John Deere’s imports into the US if the company goes ahead with plans to move production to Mexico.
At the start of the year, John Deere employed about 22,600 salaried and production workers across the two states.
Employees are furious at the cuts. A longtime John Deere worker at the Harvester Works plant in East Moline, Illinois, said it comes down to one thing: Greed.
‘We get wind of more layoffs daily, it seems, and it’s causing uncertainty all over,’ said the worker, who stayed anonymous for fear of retaliation.
‘The only reason for Deere to do this is greed.’
This latest round of layoffs follows the company’s reduced annual earnings outlook announced in May.
Increased crop supplies have pressured grain prices, which leaves farmers with less to invest in new machinery.
The company has pointed to a 20 percent fall in sales from 2023 to 2024.
More layoffs are expected – despite John Deere raking in over $10 billion in profit in 2023 while also paying CEO John May $26.7 million in total compensation.
Laid-off workers get up to 12 months of severance pay – based on years of service – payment for unused time off, and access to health benefits.
John Deere said it is still committed to US manufacturing. Bosses pointed to a $2 billion investment in US factories since 2019.
