Agriculture and construction equipment manufacturer CNH Industrial has issued layoff notices to more than a quarter of the workers at its St. Nazianz, Wis. facility effective Nov. 14.
The decision was driven by “current and anticipated market conditions,” a CNH spokesperson told Equipment Finance News.
“Employees were notified last week, with approximately 52 hourly positions affected,” the spokesperson said. “CNH is dedicated to supporting these individuals during their transition and will not be commenting on specific cases.”
Headcount at the St. Nazianz facility is 191, the spokesperson said. CNH has more than 40,000 employees globally.
Declining sales
Essex, U.K.-based CNH Industrial reported $5.5 billion in consolidated revenue in the second quarter, down 16% year over year, according to its July 31 earnings statement. Global agriculture sales fell 20% YoY to $3.9 billion, while construction sales declined 16.4% YoY to $890 million.
The company, which owns heavy-equipment producers such as Case and New Holland, attributed lower sales performance to challenges facing agriculture and construction industries, CNH Industrial Chief Executive Gerrit Marx said during the Q2 earnings call.
“Both the agriculture and construction industries deteriorated during the quarter with ag retail demand further weakening amid depressed soft commodity prices,” Marx said. “Ag production hours were 30% lower than in the second quarter of 2023, with construction also down 20%, and we will continue adjusting our manufacturing output as needed to further reduce our dealer and company inventory levels.”
The company is offering pool fund access, financing incentives and technology retrofits to help dealers offload excess inventory, Marx said. CNH did not announce plans to reduce its workforce in its Q2 earnings call or statement.
Shares of CNH Industrial (NYSE:CNH) were up 0.76% from market open today to $10.58 at market close. It has a market cap of $13.3 billion.
