John Deere cuts nearly 500 salaried jobs in Johnston, Dubuque, Waterloo and the Quad Cities

Deere & Co. cut nearly 500 salaried workers in Iowa and Illinois, with 319 employees slashed at the iconic tractor and combine manufacturer's global headquarters and production facility, both in Illinois, according to notices the Illinois Commerce and Economic Opportunity released Friday.

Deere told Illinois officials that 298 white-collar workers were cut at the company's Moline world headquarters, and 21 employees were laid off from the company's John Deere Harvester Works manufacturing plant in East Moline.

Along with Davenport and Bettendorf on the Iowa side of the Mississippi River, Moline, East Moline and Rock Island make up the Quad Cities.

Deere announced it was cutting salaried workers Wednesday but didn't say how many people would lose their jobs. In addition to the Illinois separations, Deere notified Iowa Workforce Development it was cutting 170 Iowa workers — 67 employees at John Deere Financial in Johnston; 34 employees in Dubuque and 69 in Waterloo.

Cory Reed, Deere's president of worldwide agriculture production, told Farm Journal's AgWeb in an exclusive interview that Deere’s recent cuts weren't tied to decisions to move production to Mexico, saying they're separate decisions.

Both Reed and Deere pointed the agricultural downturn for the cuts. Deere projected that large farm equipment sales this year would fall 20% to 25% below a year ago. Reed pointed to lower commodity prices, higher interest rates and market volatility.

Deere said in a statement Wednesday: “As the largest global manufacturer of agricultural equipment, John Deere, like many others in our industry, faces significant economic challenges, rising operational and manufacturing costs, and reduced customer demand.”

The economic challenges "have unfortunately forced us to make tough decisions including layoffs at John Deere production facilities and reductions in our global salaried workforce,” the manufacturer said.

Before this week's cuts, Deere had slashed about 1,830 production workers in Ankeny, Dubuque, Ottumwa , Urbandale, Waterloo and the Quad Cities’ Davenport and East Moline, Illinois, plants, as well as at an Urbandale research center.

Deere says it employed about 22,600 salary and production workers in Iowa and the Quad Cities at the start of the year. The city of Johnston says John Deere Financial employs about 1,000 workers there.

Deere told Illinois officials it employs 1,993 people at its Moline headquarters and 2,192 at its East Moline production facility.

More: With thousands of Iowa jobs already cut, how deep will the farm downturn will go?

Deere said it’s providing up to 12 months of severance pay to laid-off workers, based on years of service; pro-rated pay based on their short- and long-term cash incentives that are based on company performance; payment for unused vacation or paid time off; ongoing access to health and wellness benefits; and a year of professional job placement services.

“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,” the company said in its statement.

Reed told AgWeb that Deere is addressing farmers' cost concerns by reducing the prices of some new technologies. "We're taking some of our latest technologies, and we're cutting the upfront price of it,” Reed said.

At the same time as the salary workforce layoff, Deere emphasized its commitment to U.S. manufacturing , saying it's invested $2 billion in its American factories since 2019, including a new sprayer line at its Ankeny operation, a combine assembly line at Harvester Works plant in East Moline and a new tractor line in Waterloo.

The company says its "economic impact in our U.S. hometown communities and all those where we have a presence is valued at $27 billion."

The company has been criticized for plans to move some production to Mexico, including tractor cab and forage windrow production in Iowa.

Donnelle Eller covers agriculture, the environment and energy for the Register. Reach her at deller@registermedia.com or 515-284-8457.

This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: John Deere cuts nearly 500 salaried jobs in Johnston, Dubuque, Waterloo and the Quad Cities