Deere Taps Software Workers to Assemble Tractors Amid Strike
- Company asks volunteers to work at Iowa facilities in email
- Engineers, programmers are already assembling farm equipment
Workers at a strike outside the John Deere Regional Parts Distribution facility in McDonough, Georgia, on Nov. 5.
Photographer: Elijah Nouvelage/BloombergThis article is for subscribers only.
Deere & Co. is using the likes of software engineers and developers to keep some of its manufacturing plants running, and it’s set to utilize more if a union strike continues.
The world’s largest tractor maker on Nov. 12 gauged the interest of salaried information technology workers in volunteering at factories, according to an email seen by Bloomberg News. Shares of the Moline, Illinois-based company fell 2.9% to $351.45 at 10:34 a.m. in New York.