John Deere disputes a state report claiming 819 layoffs at its Harvester plant in East Moline, saying the Illinois DCEO’s figure combines multiple past job cuts.
EAST MOLINE, Ill. — John Deere is disputing an Illinois state report regarding over 800 layoffs at its Harvester Works plant in East Moline.
A report on the Illinois DCEO’s WorkNet website, filed Wednesday, Aug. 13, stated that a total of 819 workers are being impacted by layoffs that started in September 2023.
News 8 reached out to Deere for comment and received the following statement: “Please be aware that this report is highly inaccurate and that we are not laying off 819 people. Nothing has taken place. If there is a workforce reduction, we will first communicate directly with our employees.”
In a follow-up email, Deere said the figure of 819 “appears to be an accumulation” of multiple rounds of layoffs.
News 8 has also reached out to the Illinois DCEO for clarification on the Wednesday report and why it was filed just this week. The agency later confirmed the figure was incorrect.
“There was an internal error, which has now been corrected,” Illinois DCEO said in a statement. “We sincerely apologize for the oversight, and we are evaluating our processes to ensure a similar error does not occur in the future. We appreciate members of the media bringing this to our attention.”
The disputed layoff report comes as Deere reported its third-quarter earnings Thursday morning. The company posted $10.4 billion in equipment sales, about $100 million more than Wall Street analysts expected, and earnings per share above forecasts. But profits were still down compared to last year, and Deere lowered its full-year net income forecast by about $100 million to $5 billion. Shares fell nearly 10% after the announcement.
Barron’s Associate Editor Al Root told News 8 that the cut in guidance, not the earnings themselves, is what drove the stock drop.
“They basically took 100 million, or 2%, out of guidance and the stock is down 8. That ratio, that 4-to-1 ratio, sort of tells you what people were expecting. Inventories have been an issue, farmer profitability has been an issue, crop prices have been an issue,” Root said.
Root said factors like tariffs, interest rates, and weather will be key to Deere’s performance moving forward, with company leaders expecting 2025 to be the low point in the current agriculture cycle and a rebound in 2026.
