Although John Deere has hired hundreds of employees in the Quad Cities recently, the company has decided that around 225 workers will be laid off at the Illinois harvester factory this October.
The indefinite layoffs are slated to begin on October 16, 2023.
Over 2,300 employees are currently employed at the plant, which is responsible for manufacturing four models of combines in their 70-series lineup. Nearly 1,975 of the employees are dedicated to production and maintenance roles.
In a press release from John Deere, they said, “The company has consistently stated that each Deere factory balances the size of its production workforce with the needs of the individual factory to optimize the workforce at each facility.”
This isn’t the first time Deere has made headlines in the recent past. In 2021, Deere made headlines when UAW workers went on strike for over a month. Then, in 2022, the company announced that it would move cabs, welding, and assembly work from the Waterloo plant to a facility in Mexico.
According to qctimes, approximately 250 employees were expected to be impacted, but officials said at the time that they “anticipate attrition and the tight job market over the next 18 months will mitigate that impact.”
The announcement comes even after the company forecast net income for Deere & Company for Fiscal Year 2023 of $9.75 billion to $10 billion, increasing significantly from the same period last year.
Net sales and revenue increased 12 percent worldwide in the third quarter of 2023 and 24 percent for nine months.
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