More than 60 workers will return to John Deere's operations in Waterloo, Iowa, this autumn, part of recalls that have brought back roughly 900 employees to the company's Iowa and Illinois plants since January, AGDAILY reports. Earlier this month Deere said it would bring back more than 375 employees at its Quad Cities factories.

The company said the returning workers will help "address employee attrition, meet customer demand and build dealer inventory as part of long-term operational planning". It also said several hundred production employees remain on layoff and demand is still well below 2021 levels.

The recalls follow deep cuts: between October 2023 and October 2025 Deere laid off 3,814 employees in Iowa and western Illinois. Members of the United Auto Workers recently voted down a two-year extension of their contract, which Deere had offered in July to run to 2029; the current agreement expires in October 2027. UAW president Shawn Fain said job security was the main concern, with 1,600 workers still laid off.

Deere has invested $13.8 million in new equipment at its Waterloo Foundry, which opened in the early 1970s. For its third quarter to 2 August, the company reported net income of $1.379 billion, up from $1.289 billion a year earlier, on net sales and revenues up 5% to $12.608 billion.

Photo: Artiez / Wikimedia Commons (public domain)

Source: AGDAILY