Deere-Hitachi Cuts Employee Hours in Half

Deere-Hitachi Construction Machinery will to cut 553 employees’ hours by at least half at its Kernersville, North Carolina plant. The production slowdown will last until at least September.

Affected workers include 471 manufacturing employees, 60 manufacturing support staff and 22 office support staff.

The firm is trying to avoid layoffs, or a complete shutdown of the facility.

The Deere-Hitachi Construction Machinery Corp. is jointly owned by Deere & Company and Hitachi, and manufactures hydraulic excavators for the North American market.