Investing.com -- Deere & Company (N:DE), the parent company of tractor manufacturer John Deere, announced on Friday that it is laying off approximately 100 manufacturing employees, effective on April 1,
John Deere, an Iowa-based manufacturer of agricultural, construction and forestry machinery, said the layoffs will occur at two of its factories in the state – located in Davenport and Dubuque. Both facilities are part of the company's forestry and construction divisions. Roughly four-fifths of the layoffs will take place at the company's John Deere Davenport Works Facility, while the remaining workers will come from a unit in nearby Dubuque.
"The layoffs reflect the company's ongoing efforts to balance the size of its manufacturing workforce with market demand for products at individual factories," John Deere said in a statement.
Last week, John Deere said its first quarter earnings fell 34% to $254.4 million, amid weakening demand in equipment sales. Net profits among its Construction and Forestry segment declined by 23%, as a result of lower shipment volumes and the negative impacts from foreign exchange translation. Moving forward, the company expects equipment sales to decline 8% in the second quarter and approximately 10% for the year as a whole.
"John Deere's first-quarter results reflected the continuing impact of the downturn in the global farm economy as well as weakness in construction equipment markets," John Deere CEO Samuel Allen said in a statement.
In November, John Deere informed 220 employees at a Seeding and Cylinder facility in Moline, Illinois, that they were being placed on indefinite leave in early-2016, amid forecasts for declining agricultural sales.
Shares in John Deere inched down 0.04 or 0.06% to 79.47 in after-hours trading.