More and More Retrenchment for Caterpillar

Headquartered in Peoria, Illinois, Caterpillar announced in September 2015 that it would continue a retrenchment strategy by permanently laying off another 10,000 employees through 2018, including nearly 5,000 salaried and management personnel. A huge producer of heavy equipment, Caterpillar’s sales are down 27 percent from a peak of nearly $66 billion in 2012 and are expected to drop another 5 percent annually in the foreseeable future. Declines in the mining and energy industries have slashed demand for Caterpillar’s excavators, trucks, wheel loaders, and engines. Prior to the Fall 2015 announcement, Caterpillar had already cut its global workforce by more than 31,000 since mid-2012, closing more than 20 manufacturing facilities.

Source: Based on Bob Tita, “Caterpillar Aims to Cut 10,000 Jobs,” Wall Street Journal, September 25, 2015, B1.