U.S. Department of Homeland Security: Essential Critical Infrastructure Workers
Statement from John Deere

As the Nation comes together to slow the spread of COVID-19, on March 16th, the President issued updated Coronavirus Guidance for America. This guidance states that: “If you work in a critical infrastructure industry, as defined by the Department of Homeland Security, such as healthcare services and pharmaceutical and food supply, you have a special responsibility to maintain your normal work schedule.”

John Deere continues to operate in the face of COVID-19 because our business, as designated by the President of the United States and the United States Department of Homeland Security, is essential to ensuring community and national resilience and well-being.

Keeping farmers and those involved in infrastructure and energy production up and running is essential to food production and our ability to support critical infrastructure needs. Today, our employees were identified by the Department of Homeland Security as essential critical infrastructure workers, defined as  the essential workers needed to maintain the services and functions Americans depend on daily and need to be able to operate resiliently during the  OVID-19 pandemic response.”

This designation does not take away from the fact that our priority continues to be the safety and well-being of our employees and the communities we serve. To that end, we have put in place international and domestic travel restrictions, staggered shift schedules to enable social distancing, remote and flexible work arrangements for those employees not required in factory operations, and enhanced cleaning and sanitation regimens across our facilities, and enhanced social distancing, among other efforts. We’re continuing to monitor guidance from regulatory bodies, including state and federal officials, the Centers for Disease Control and the World Health Organization.

Our efforts to keep our factories running is to ensure we’re able to keep our customers operational with the parts, service, finance, support and equipment they rely on us for — including farmers and contractors who are critical to the well-being of our nation and world.