Silicon Valley layoffs are a boon for tech-hungry farm equipment makers

Employees at Deere & Co. new tech hub in Chicago?s West Loop neighborhood in the fall last year, Chicago, Illinois, U.S., August 2022 in this handout image. Dave Burk/SOM/Handout via REUTERS

(Reuters) - Big agricultural and construction equipment manufacturers in the American Midwest are on a mission to lure Silicon Valley tech workers who have been caught up in a wave of hiring freezes and layoffs, executives told Reuters.

Mass layoffs at major tech firms have opened the talent pipeline for Illinois-based Deere & Co. - the world's largest tractor maker - and rivals who are eager to add tech workers to their payrolls as they expand into autonomous tractors, mining trucks, and other smart farming technology.