John Deere announces layoffs in their Midwest facilities while shifting some production to Mexico

The world’s largest seller of tractors and crop harvesters, John Deere, has announced more layoffs at their Midwest factory locations.

The company announced on Friday that they will be laying off around 610 people on their production staff from plants in Illinois and Iowa. They said their jobs will end by the end of summer.

While the company made a profit last year of over $10 billion, they say the layoffs are being made because there is a reduction in demand for the products made at these factories, according to Fox Business.  

"We can confirm Deere leadership recently communicated that rising operational costs and declining market demand requires enterprise-wide changes in how work gets done to achieve our goals and best position the company for the future," a statement from John Deere reads.

The employees who are being let go will be offered Supplemental Unemployment Benefit (SUB) that will amount to about 95% of their weekly net pay for up to 26 weeks, depending on how long they have been employed there. They will also being given profit-sharing options and health benefits. 

Earlier this month, the company announced it is moving some manufacturing from its Dubuque, Iowa, facility to Mexico by the end of 2026.