(TheRedAlertNews.com) – In distressing news, renowned US machinery manufacturer John Deere has announced plans to lay off about 150 workers from its facility in Ankeny, Iowa, with the reasons behind the move remaining a mystery.
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The announcement of these layoffs was communicated to the employees at the end of last week, KTVO reports, cited by Breitbart News.
The statement issued by the company elaborated that “about 150 production employees will be placed on ‘indefinite layoff effective over the months of April and May.’”
The rationale behind these layoffs remains undisclosed, Breitbart points out.
However, John Deere explained in a statement that “each John Deere factory balances the size of its production workforce with the needs of the individual factory to optimize the workforce at each facility.”
The workforce at the Ankeny facility comprises roughly 1,700 employees, with more than 1,000 dedicated to production and maintenance roles.
It’s noteworthy that in June 2022, John Deere had intentions to relocate a segment of its Tractor and Cab Assembly Operations from Waterloo, Iowa—where around 1,100 individuals were employed—to Mexico by the fiscal year 2024.
Breitbart News highlighted this development, emphasizing the broader trend of relocating American manufacturing jobs to Mexico.
This trend was exemplified by Ford Motor Co.’s 2021 announcement of a $900 million investment initially designated for an Ohio plant, which was moved to Mexico.
Additionally, federal data from 2020 indicated that approximately 108,846 Americans faced job losses due to free trade agreements.
Furthermore, in September, the John Deere Harvester Works in East Moline, Illinois, announced layoffs affecting over 200 production workers, as reported by KWQC.
This reduction in workforce constituted nearly “ten percent of the workforce at Harvester Works.”
A burgeoning concern among Americans regarding job security has been exacerbated by the surge of layoffs within the tech industry and the advancing capabilities of Artificial Intelligence (AI).
“The constant stream of mass layoff announcements from major tech companies like Amazon, Google, Microsoft, and Twitter in recent months has caused an atmosphere of uncertainty across the workforce,” state the findings from a Fast Company report.
It noted this sentiment is further intensified by the potential implications AI technology may have on various professions.
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