Cat Offers Retirement Incentive

Caterpillar Inc. announced Feb. 11 that it would offer a voluntary retirement package to about 2,000 production employees in Illinois and other states.

In addition to the layoff or dismissal of more than 22,000 workers and contractors that Caterpillar had already announced, more job cuts might be required, the Peoria-based company said in a statement.

On Jan. 26, Caterpillar announced that as the global recession and credit crisis continued to sap demand for construction equipment, it expected sales to fall around 22 percent this year to $40 billion. Cat CEO Jim Owens said the company might post a loss this quarter, its first in 16 years.

The retirement package is being offered to about 2,000 production employees in the Illinois cities of Aurora, Decatur, Joliet, Pontiac and Peoria. Some workers in Denver, CO, Memphis, TN and York, PA also will receive the retirement package.

The job cuts that Caterpillar announced in January included 12,000 employees, or 11 percent of the workforce, and 8,000 contractors. Cat followed that announcement up four days later when it said it would place another 2,100 Illinois factory workers in Illinois on permanent layoff, meaning they would be out of work for at least six months. Caterpillar had 112,887 employees at the end of 2008.