The Peoria, Illinois, company said Thursday that it will cut as many as 5,000 people mostly by the end of this year from its salaried and management workforce. It then could cut thousands more, raising the total above 10,000, as it figures out which factories and manufacturing sites to close through 2018.
Caterpillar has a 1.5 million-square-foot logistics facility located in Clayton where it employs around 700 people. Company officials would not say what impact the cuts would have at this Dayton-area facility.
In August, the company said fewer than 10 people were let go at the Clayton facility as part of 500 layoffs nationwide.
Caterpillar also said Thursday that it was dropping its 2015 revenue outlook by $1 billion, and its profit forecast will take a hit as well.
Caterpillar makes diesel and natural gas engines, industrial gas turbines and diesel-electric locomotives, aside from construction and mining equipment. Several sectors that it serves have been hit by problems beyond the company’s control.
Low oil prices have hurt the company’s Energy & Transportation business, which makes products used in oil and gas production. Caterpillar said its construction equipment sales have fallen far below peak levels in North America, Latin America, Europe and the Middle East. Mining equipment sales have stayed well below a level considered normal for customers replacing or upgrading their equipment.
The company has been hurt, in particular, by a slowdown in China’s construction boom. That contributed to a 21 percent drop in Caterpillar’s Asia-Pacific region sales during the second quarter.
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