John Deere to lay off 119 more workers at Des Moines Works

John Deere has announced that nearly 120 workers at its Des Moines Works facility in Ankeny will be laid off this spring. The company confirmed Friday that 119 employees were informed of the layoffs, which will occur in three phases — March 28, April 4, and April 29. The facility currently employs around 1,500 workers.

Deere attributes the layoffs to declining demand and a weakened farm economy.

“They are not related to production moves,” the company stated as reported by multiple news sources. “As we have repeatedly stated, these layoffs are due to the weakened farm economy and a reduction in customer orders for our equipment.” The U.S. Department of Agriculture has forecasted a 4.8 percent drop in major row-crop cash receipts from 2024, with crop prices down over 30 percent compared to 2022.

This latest round of cuts follows a series of workforce reductions at John Deere facilities across Iowa, where nearly 1,500 positions were eliminated last year. In March 2024, 150 workers were laid off at the Des Moines Works facility. Across its operations in the state — including plants in Ottumwa, Waterloo, Davenport, and Dubuque — John Deere has announced 16 rounds of layoffs in the past year.

The company has faced criticism for shifting some production lines from its Waterloo and Ottumwa plants to Mexico, drawing scrutiny from then-presidential candidate Donald Trump, who in September threatened a 200 percent tariff on Deere products manufactured there. However, the company maintains that the Ankeny layoffs are not related to production moves.

Deere officials acknowledged in a Feb. 13 earnings call that the company would continue to scale back production after experiencing a 37 percent drop in sales in its first fiscal quarter, from Oct. 1 to Dec. 31, compared to the same period a year earlier. The company’s statement also noted that persistently high interest rates and recent inflation trends are contributing to challenges in the agricultural and construction equipment markets.

Employees affected by the layoffs will receive supplemental unemployment pay followed by transitional assistance covering 50 percent of their average weekly earnings for up to 52 weeks. They will retain health care coverage for at least six months or as long as they qualify for supplemental unemployment pay, with an option to extend it for an additional 12 months at full cost. Additionally, laid-off employees will remain eligible for recall to their home factory based on seniority and job qualifications.

John Deere employs 30,000 U.S. workers across 60 facilities in 16 states.