MOLINE, Ill. — Over 300 salaried John Deere employees were laid off in Illinois last week on July 24. It comes after Deere confirmed in late June that it would be reducing its salaried workforce by the end of July.

A total of 298 employees at John Deere World Headquarters in Moline and 21 employees at Harvester Works in Moline were laid off, according to emails obtained by News 8 on Tuesday. Those emails were sent to the Illinois Department of Commerce & Economic Opportunity by Deere officials and say that the affected employees are salaried, adding that they are not represented by a union. Impacted workers will receive an additional 60 days of compensation.

News 8 previously reported that 170 workers were also laid off on July 24 at three Deere facilities in Iowa but did not yet have a confirmed number of Illinois employees affected. Deere told News 8 on July 24 that they would be reducing their global salaried workforce.

Altogether, 489 Deere employees were laid off on July 24. Over the past three months, Deere has announced over 1,500 layoffs at its production facilities and headquarters.

Here is the statement News 8 received from a Deere spokesperson on the 24th:

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, including a 20 percent decline in sales from 2023 to 2024. 

• This reduction in product demand and increased operational costs have unfortunately forced us to make tough decisions including layoffs at John Deere production facilities and reductions in our global salaried workforce.

We are committed to providing assistance and benefits to affected salaried employees. As part of this pledge, we are extending the following support to affected salaried employees in the U.S.:

• Up to 12 months of severance based on years of service
• Pro-rated short-term incentive (STI) and long-term incentive cash (LTIC) compensation benefits
• Payment for any earned and unused vacation or paid time off and other factors
• Access to ongoing health and wellness benefits and 12 months 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 also reiterated its “commitment to US manufacturing” by linking to its website which can be found here.