Deere to cut salaried and production jobs in the next couple of months

By Tomi Kilgore

Layoffs come in wake of lowered earnings guidance provided in mid-May

Deere & Co. disclosed Wednesday that it is cutting jobs, with the layoffs expected to occur in the next couple of months.

The layoff announcement comes a few weeks after the agricultural and construction machinery maker (DE) lowered its full fiscal year earnings outlook. At that time, the company said it was "proactively" managing its production levels to adapt to demand changes.

"On May 31, 2024, the company announced to its employees a plan to reduce its production and salaried workforce to help the Company meet its strategic priorities while reducing overlap and redundancy in roles and responsibilities," Deere stated in an 8-K filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

The company, which had 33,800 employees in the U.S. and Canada as of Oct. 29, 2023, did not disclose the number of people who would be laid off or where the jobs being cut were based.

The company did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The layoffs are expected to occur during the company fiscal third quarter, which runs through July.

Deere said the earnings outlook it provided on May 16 remains intact, as the job cuts aren't expected to have much financial impact.

The stock was indicated up fractionally in Wednesday's premarket. Since the company provided the earnings outlook, the stock had dropped 10.8% through Tuesday.

It has lost 7.6% year to date, while the S&P 500 index SPX has gained 10.9%.

-Tomi Kilgore

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06-05-24 0646ET

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