Caterpillar is cuttingas many as 5,000 jobs, and may cut thousands more over the next few years. The construction and mining equipment maker says it is trying to reduce costs as it deals with downturns in key markets that it serves.
The Peoria, Illinois, based company says most of the cuts will occur in 2015 in its salaried and management workforce. But it said total cuts could exceed 10,000 people through 2018 as the company eyes 20 factories and manufacturing sites it plans to restructure or close.
The company employs more than 126,000 people worldwide. It has reduced its workforce by 31,000 since 2012, closing or consolidating 20 plants.
Caterpillar is dropping its 2015 revenue forecast by $1 billion to about $48 billion. It says sales should be about 5 percent lower than earlier projected.
The company said the job cuts and other expense reductions are expected to help lower operating costs by around $1.5 billion a year.
Caterpillar says a convergence of challenging conditions in key regions and industries leading to lower projected revenue prompted the cuts.