ADVERTISEMENT

Deere & Co. cuts salaried jobs as part of company restructuring

I know it’s a rough business, but as an outsider, it really does seem like management sucks.

How many production jobs did the right-to-repair and similar stupidity kill? I remember discussion that refurbishing older equipment was more practical than buying new.
 
Last edited:
Deere’s new CEO is really getting rid of the dead weight. Managers who are managing other managers who are managing other managers. 2 out of 3 ain’t doing crap and making 6 figure salaries.
 
  • Like
Reactions: torbee and GOHOX69
Deere’s new CEO is really getting rid of the dead weight. Managers who are managing other managers who are managing other managers. 2 out of 3 ain’t doing crap and making 6 figure salaries.

I don’t work for Deere but how do you know that 2 out of 3 managers aren’t doing crap. Did you perform a company wide analysis or you just made it up and don’t understand other peoples roles in the organization.
 
Deere’s new CEO is really getting rid of the dead weight. Managers who are managing other managers who are managing other managers. 2 out of 3 ain’t doing crap and making 6 figure salaries.
This is happening at the Company I just retired from. Cut,Cut,Cut with early buyouts of the most highly paid. And yes Managers who are managing other managers. Also going after the field sales force. Chopping it down to a few grunts for special projects. But hey keep that pension funded and the stockholders happy first. All while protecting their own asses.
 
  • Like
Reactions: torbee
This is happening at the Company I just retired from. Cut,Cut,Cut with early buyouts of the most highly paid. And yes Managers who are managing other managers. Also going after the field sales force. Chopping it down to a few grunts for special projects. But hey keep that pension funded and the stockholders happy first. All while protecting their own asses.
Short term prioritized over long term. Stock price is King. What it is 5 years from now is the next CEO's problem.
 
Deere’s new CEO is really getting rid of the dead weight. Managers who are managing other managers who are managing other managers. 2 out of 3 ain’t doing crap and making 6 figure salaries.
The general consensus is the new CEO is a mess and once he took care of his boys it was slash and burn time. Not good for long-term at JD.
 
The general consensus is the new CEO is a mess and once he took care of his boys it was slash and burn time. Not good for long-term at JD.
This, he is flailing around and by letting go so many people that have experience, even engineers being able to grab early retirement, he is losing tons of tribal knowledge. However, If he can change Deere internally, in that these people he is empowering are not fired if they are bold and propose a plan that does not work out, then he may have something.
 
This will happen all over soon. Most of the Big Banks pledged to not layoff anyone in the current time frame to help stabilize the economy. That time is about over and massive cuts are coming across the board. Depression is imminent.
 
Short term prioritized over long term. Stock price is King. What it is 5 years from now is the next CEO's problem.
They brought some dude from Australia from a company they bought. And he is totally destroying a great customer service biz. And ruining the lives of many. All for the stockholder. If they only knew how the company is run.....
 
Any manager other than first-line will always “manage other managers”. That is proper.
 
I don’t work for Deere but how do you know that 2 out of 3 managers aren’t doing crap. Did you perform a company wide analysis or you just made it up and don’t understand other peoples roles in the organization.

Yes! Another soldier for me in the fight against self-disempowerment!
 
Any manager other than first-line will always “manage other managers”. That is proper.
Yes but this company is also eliminating managers. It is a great company that has a meeting about the meeting about the meeting. Rule by intimidation was the rule. Everybody has a quota. I put up with 20 years of it. Don't get me wrong, it was a good job with lots of perks. But watched it become a shell of what it used to be. Luckily they pretty much left me alone as I was always one of the top salesman they had. I hit 65 and gave notice and they did try to talk me out of it. But I was ready.
 
  • Like
Reactions: torbee
Caterpillar Inc. did the same thing 5 years ago.
They wanted a lean machine that could give
dividends to the stockholders. When you start
cutting upper and middle management, then
you are eliminating big salaries.
 
Deere Reports First-Quarter Income of $517 Million
https://www.prnewswire.com/news-rel...-quarter-income-of-517-million-301008918.html

MOLINE, Ill., Feb. 21, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Deere & Company (NYSE: DE) reported net income of $517 million for the first quarter ended February 2, 2020, or $1.63 per share, compared with net income of $498 million, or $1.54 per share, for the quarter ended January 27, 2019. Worldwide net sales and revenues decreased 4 percent in the first quarter of 2020 to $7.631 billion. Net sales of the equipment operations were $6.530 billion for the quarter, compared with $6.941 billion in 2019.
 
Farming has always been cyclical and I don't know what percentage of Deere's business is industrial, so it looks like a short term reaction to me.

It looks like this CEO expects those generous farm subsidies from the WH to dry up once the election is over and Merican farmers will be trimming purchases for a few years.

I think he might have the WH view of farming correct. Rural Merica will be in for a huge surprise if Trump is reelected.
 
  • Like
Reactions: torbee
Deere’s new CEO is really getting rid of the dead weight. Managers who are managing other managers who are managing other managers. 2 out of 3 ain’t doing crap and making 6 figure salaries.
There is quite a bit of that at Deere.

The problem is, the ones tasked with choosing who the “dead weight” managers are usually ARE the older, overpaid dead weight!
 
That is the story that came across the news feed. Feel free to add newer ones if you like

Here’s today’s from AP. Revenue down Significantly year over year:
Deere & Company reports net income of $811 million for third quarter
SALE! Subscribe for $1/mo.
5e3b381645e12.image.jpg

John Deere farming equipment on display at a dealership in Petersburg, Illinois.

Seth Perlman, Associated Press
Deere & Co. reported a net income of $811 million for the fiscal quarter that ended Aug. 2.

The Moline-based equipment manufacturer reported Friday net income of $811 million for the quarter that ended Aug. 2, or $2.57 per share, compared to net income of $899 million, or $2.81 per share, for the quarter that ended July 28, 2019.

Deere has so far brought in a net income of $1.993 billion, or $6.30 per share, for the first nine fiscal months, compared to $2.532 billion, or $7.87 per share, for the same period a year ago.

In May, the company had released a projected fiscal forecast that projected it could bring in between $1.6 billion and $2 billion in net income for the year, a revision from February's pre-coronavirus projection of $2.7 billion and $3.1 billion.

As of Friday, Deere is now projecting its yearly net income to fall between the two previous projections and reach about $2.25 billion, which could be impacted by the continuing COVID-19 pandemic.

Further, worldwide net sales and revenues decreased 11%, to $8.925 billion, for the third quarter and declined 12%, to $25.809 billion, for the nine fiscal quarters. Net sales of the equipment operations were $7.859 billion for the quarter and $22.612 billion for nine months, compared with $8.969 billion and $26.182 billion last year.

“With outstanding support from our dedicated global workforce and dealer organization, John Deere delivered a strong performance in the third quarter in the face of a serious global pandemic and uncertain market conditions,” said John May, Deere’s CEO and Board Chairman, in a news release.

“As we manage through the pandemic, Deere’s number-one priority continues to be safeguarding the health and well-being of its employees. Thanks to aggressive measures taken early in the crisis, we have had success keeping our employees safe, our factories and parts centers functioning, and our customers served.”

Company officials provided specifics on some of the steps taken this fiscal year as it embarks on a corporate refocus, or what Deere has called its Smart Industrial Redesign.

Deere plans to spend $435 million this fiscal year on one-time moves, such as $138 million earlier this year in a round of salaried-employee buyouts as well as $175 million on current salaried-employee reductions. Other cost saving measures include shutting down a small tractor manufacturing facility in China, a $37 million cost for the current fiscal year, and selling a lawn-mowing business in Europe.

But those moves by Deere are projected to save the company about $260 million on a yearly basis moving into the future as officials have said they would be evaluating operations for months. Those job cuts are making it to where there aren’t as many people having to sign off on each decision, allowing the company to pivot quicker in a fluid situation, especially during the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.

“We’ve taken some layers out of the organization. We’ve been able to respond much quicker in this very, very dynamic environment and that’s given us a lot of confidence on the path we’re going on,” said Ryan Campbell, Deere’s chief financial officer.

The other aspect of the smart industrial redesign is an even more focused approach to its precision ag, or the use of technology by operators in their fields to more precisely maneuver. In other words, Deere is moving to position itself as the Apple of Ag.

But that use of technology, such as having a sprayer turn off between plants instead of running the entire time, helps cut overhead expenses for farmers during a time when there has been one blow after another.

Two years of international trade wars seemed to come to an end when the U.S. and China signed off on the first phase of a new trade deal in January, but then the coronavirus has leveled economic blows to both countries. China has picked up its promise of an increase in purchases of American-made goods, such as crops, but still has a ways to go to meet its promise.

Cory Reed, president of Deere’s agriculture and turf division for production and precision ag, said nearly all of the company’s advanced precision features saw higher take rates by customers than previous years.

That demonstrates “customers’ willingness for sustained investment in technology in the face of uncertain market conditions, specifically we see the significant levels of investment in solutions that have the highest demonstrable impact on customer economics,” he said.
 
  • Like
Reactions: THE_DEVIL
I know of another big, local company that cut and cut during the pandemic. Sales were down 30-35%, but profit was up 49%. Time will tell how it turns out for the company and it’s employees.
 
ADVERTISEMENT