John Deere announces hundreds of layoffs

Jul 08, 2024

About 600 employees will lose their jobs by the end of August

By Diego Flammini
Staff Writer
Farms.com

Around 600 John Deere employees will be out of work by the end of August.

The farm equipment manufacturer announced it is laying off about 310 workers from the Dubuque and Davenport, Iowa, plants, and another 280 employees from the East Moline, Ill. facility.

The Dubuque plant manufactures multiple loaders; Skidders, loaders and dump trucks are made at the Davenport plant. And the East Moline location is home of the most modern and largest combine manufacturing facility in the world.

These layoffs are necessary because of ongoing market challenges, John Deere reps say.

“We can confirm Deere leadership recently communicated that rising operational costs and declining market demand requires enterprise-wide changes in how work gets done to achieve our goals and best position the company for the future,” the company said in response to News 8 receiving a copy of a letter sent to salaried employees informing them of the coming layoffs.

Residents are concerned about how these job losses will affect their communities.

“There’s going to be a significant impact to the small towns here around Iowa that have manufacturing facilities for John Deere,” Chris Laursen, a retired Deere employee, told Fox Business.

These layoffs also come as John Deere shifts some of its production south of the border.

Last month, for example, Deere announced it’s moving skid steer and compact track loader manufacturing from Dubuque to Mexico by 2026.

And in 2022 the manufacturer announced plans to move tractor cab manufacturing from Waterloo, Iowa to a components plant in Mexico beginning in the 2024 fiscal year.

“Let’s not kid ourselves, these are jobs that won’t be returning,” Laursen told Fox Business.

Video: A Farm Song (Busy) | Parody of A Bar Song (Tipsy) by Shaboozey

Lyrics:

My days begin with workin’, Alarm’s at 5 o’clock,
I Fill 5 gallon buckets, The feeders and the troughs,
This five to nine ain’t workin’, why the heck do I work so hard?,
I can’t worry ‘bout health problems, I can sleep in when I’m gone,

One, here comes the two to the three to the four,
Tell em’ ‘buy another cow, we need plenty more’,
Blue jeans are gettin’ dirty, what else could I ask for,
Oh my, more chores

Someone pour me up another shot of sweet tea,
They know me and working hard’s got a history,
There’s another flock of sheep that still needs feed,
Everybody on the farm gettin’ busy,

Everybody on the farm gettin’ busy,
Everybody on the farm gettin’ busy,

I’ve been working pretty stressed but,
I ain’t changing for some cash,
Lord knows that I’m very blessed (More chores),
But I gotta say it’s hard,
Workin’ outside gettin’ charred,
Living out here on the farm, (more chores)

One, here comes the two to the three to the four,
Tell em’ ‘buy another cow, we need plenty more’,
Blue jeans are gettin’ dirty, what else could I ask for,
Oh my, more chores

Someone pour me up another shot of sweet tea,
They know me and working hard’s got a history
There’s another 20 chickens that still need feed,
Everybody on the farm gettin’ busy,

Everybody on the farm getting’ busy,
Everybody on the farm gettin’ busy,

Fun, here on ranch that’s what you can’t ignore,
Might be pretty hard but I love it to its core,
Flannel’s gettin’ dirty, what else could I ask for,
Oh my, more chores (Tell ‘em sing with me)

Someone pour me up another shot of sweet tea,
They know me and working hard’s got a history,
There’s another flock of sheep that still needs feed,
Everybody on the farm gettin’ busy,
Someone pour me up another shot of sweet tea,
They know me and working hard’s got a history,
Watching cattle in the dark, don’t miss me,
Everybody on the farm gettin’ busy,
(Yeeeeeehaw)
Everybody on the farm gettin’ busy,
Everybody on the farm gettin’ busy,
It’s the best bro, go get yourself a farm