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Deere to Lay Off 150+ Workers

Oct. 2, 2019
Deere & Co. announced it will lay off more than 150 employees between October and November because of “market conditions,” according to various news reports.

Deere & Co. announced it will lay off more than 150 employees between October and November because of “market conditions,” according to various news reports. Deere said it will lay off more than 110 workers at its Davenport, Iowa, plant by Nov. 18 and around 50 workers from its East Moline, Ill., Harvester factory. Deere’s public relations director Ken Golden told AP that Deere has lowered its expectations for sales and net income because of decreased customer demand.

     Deere said additional layoffs in other plants were not expected currently. The company said trade uncertainties and a slumping agricultural economy contributed to the layoffs. Deere CEO Samuel Allen mentioned in his comments during the company’s fiscal third quarter results conference call that concerns about export-market access, near-term demand for commodities such as soybeans and overall crop conditions have caused farmers to postpone major equipment purchases.

About the Author

Michael Roth | Editor

Michael Roth has covered the equipment rental industry full time for RER since 1989 and has served as the magazine’s editor in chief since 1994. He has nearly 30 years experience as a professional journalist. Roth has visited hundreds of rental centers and industry manufacturers, written hundreds of feature stories for RER and thousands of news stories for the magazine and its electronic newsletter RER Reports. Roth has interviewed leading executives for most of the industry’s largest rental companies and manufacturers as well as hundreds of smaller independent companies. He has visited with and reported on rental companies and manufacturers in Europe, Central America and Asia as well as Mexico, Canada and the United States. Roth was co-founder of RER Reports, the industry’s first weekly newsletter, which began as a fax newsletter in 1996, and later became an online newsletter. Roth has spoken at conventions sponsored by the American Rental Association, Associated Equipment Distributors, California Rental Association and other industry events and has spoken before industry groups in several countries. He lives and works in Los Angeles when he’s not traveling to cover industry events.