John Deere plans to hire up to 300 tech workers for its new Chicago office

From tractors to technology: John Deere plans to hire up to 300 tech workers for its new Chicago office.

After signing a lease for more than 38,000 square feet at 800 West Fulton Market, the farm and construction equipment maker has announced plans to hire 150 tech employees in the next two years, Crain’s Chicago Business reported. The company plans to double that number in three to five years.

John Deere, which plans to open the Fulton Market office in late summer or early fall of 2022, is joining other tech employers in the city, including Google, Tock, Snap and TikTok. The company chose Chicago as it has the sixth-largest tech labor pool in the country.

“We started this process a little over two years ago,” Deere’s global head of human resources Andrez Carberry told Crain’s. “As we went through the process, taking into account a number of factors, including connectivity and proximity to our headquarters, Chicago just stood out. It’s got a great talent pool. It’s the big city in the Midwest. It provides the capabilities we need.”

The company plans to hire workers skilled in data and analytics, cybersecurity, e-commerce and cloud computing. It is looking to take advantage of Chicago’s deep pool of talent coming from local universities and other tech companies.

Heavy equipment maker and John Deere peer, Caterpillar, also opened an office in the West Loop after moving its headquarters to Deerfield.

The building John Deere will soon call home was developed by New York-based Thor Equities. The recently completed 19-story structure is 70 percent leased, with Aspen Dental as the largest tenant.

Deere recently reached a new labor contract with union workers, which ended the first strike the company had since 1986. The contract increases pay and boosts benefits over a six-year period.

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[Crain’s] — Victoria Pruitt