Caterpillar to shed 2,110 jobs
Jan 31 2009 by Iain Laing, The Journal
HEAVY equipment maker Caterpillar yesterday announced 2,110 new job cuts as it scales back production to match lower demand in a slowing global economy.
The world’s largest maker of mining and construction machinery last week said it was axing 5,000 jobs on top of 15,000 cuts previously announced, which have so far included 300 from its North East sites in Peterlee and Stockton.
It said yesterday that the latest round of cuts at three Illinois plants – in Aurora, Decatur and East Peoria – and other cost-cutting measures were needed to maintain competitiveness. Like other large manufacturers, US-based Caterpillar has seen its key markets undercut by weakening sales of large equipment as companies reduce spending.
The lay-offs add to job cuts announced on Monday that totalled 20,000.
That day, the company reported a 32% drop in fourth-quarter profit as slumping commodity prices, tight credit markets and a decline in construction hurt orders for its diggers, tractors and other machines.
In November the company axed 230 workers from its Peterlee site, which makes trucks, leaving 700 staff at its base on the town’s North West Industrial Estate. The Stockton site, which does fabrication work for trucks, currently employs 200 people after shedding 70 jobs late last year.
Bob Williams, Caterpillar’s vice president for the Americas Operations Division, said in statement that “over the last few months, recessionary conditions have had a very negative impact on our customers”.
Caterpillar, with about 113,000 employees worldwide, has expanded dramatically in recent years.
At the end of 2008, the company employed 11,500 more people than it did a year earlier.
