John Deere, the world’s largest maker of farm machinery, continues to announce and make cuts in its global workforce, and downsize operations. Headquartered in Moline, part of the Quad Cities on the Mississippi River between Illinois and Iowa, the firm announced over 300 new job cuts in Quad Cities itself Oct. 16. This brings Deere’s lay-offs locally to 900 this year: 298 at the Moline headquarters; 279 at the Harvester Works in East Moline; 211 at the Davenport (Iowa) works; and 134 at the Seeding and Cylinder division in Moline. Overall, since March, Deere has laid off 2,600 workers in its network of plants in the Iowa region, including in Ottumwa, Dubuque, Ankeny, and Waterloo, as well as in Quad Cities.
Deere reports that its sales have declined 20% since last year. Its stock price is down 16%. Deere has a world workforce in the range of 30,000. Lay-offs have been taking place at many locations. Its largest factory is Waterloo, Iowa, whose workforce of 5,000 makes tractors of all sizes. Lay-offs took place here and at other regional locations.
