Cat lays off thousands of employees globally

Caterpillar Inc., Peoria, Illinois, laid off hundreds of workers in its headquarters, a report by The Pekin Daily Times says. The layoffs occurred after the company announced plans to close overseas production plants and lay off thousands more positions.

According to the report, 300 employees in support and management positions at Building AC and the Tech Center, both located in Mossville, Illinois, were given job loss notifications that included severance packages, a 60 days-notice and mandated Illinois Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification (WARN) Act letters, which are required to be filed with agencies such as the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity.

The layoffs are set to take effect by Oct. 31, the report says. The company will help its former employees either find work elsewhere or be place in new positions within the company. The terminations consisted largely of engineers working in divisions Caterpillar recently announced would be consolidated.

Thousands of jobs will also be cut in Northern Ireland and Belgium, the report says. The company plans to restructure its operations in Northern Ireland, reducing production, support and management positions down to 200 to 250 over the next one or two years.

According to the report, the company also announces its intentions to shift production of construction equipment from Belgium to France, resulting in the termination of 2,000 jobs.