CAT, Deere in cyclical layoff mode, say industry experts [Video]

PEORIA (25News Now and KWQC) – Manufacturing competitors Caterpillar and John Deere are implementing layoffs as material prices rise across the industry, say experts familiar with the sector.

Deere laid off 170 manufacturing employees on Wednesday, following hundreds more workers in the Quad Cities area the past few months.

A Caterpillar spokesperson confirmed on Thursday that the company implemented a one-week layoff for employees in East Peoria to align with customer demand.

Bradley University Associate Dean Joshua Lewer from the Department of Economics said layoffs are cyclical for manufacturers like CAT and John Deere, depending on the climate of the agriculture and mining industries.

“The prices of each of their equipment can be more expensive, so it’s a large capital outlay on an end user,” Lewer said. “I think [high] interest rates are having an effect here on manufacturing.”

Iowa State University professor Peter Orazem said the effects of these layoffs trickle down …