fter the company announced a 21% decline in Q1 sales and revenue in 2020, Caterpillar announced that the company will undergo a round of layoffs in response to the negative impact of the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic.
According to reports from CIproud.com and Peoria Journal-Star, Cat issued a layoff notice of "unspecified number of employees" on Thursday. Caterpillar confirmed to two news outlets that the layoffs were due to the corona virus pandemic in order to "reduce costs."
Because the layoffs were carried out in "global factories", Caterpillar did not announce the specific number of layoffs. The following Cat spokesperson Kate Kenny provided a complete statement to CIproud.com:
Caterpillar has taken various actions around the world to reduce the costs caused by the pandemic, and hopes that this will improve the company's competitiveness in times of economic uncertainty. Today, the company has notified some employees that they will be laid off because the company wants to reduce some full-time support, management and production positions. We do n’t want to talk about how many people are affected by the epidemic. Our action plan is for the global scope, with our employees and agents. "
In March, Cat laid off employees at the East Peoria KK building. The initial layoffs took place after the company decided to close its Mapleton Iron Foundry in Illinois. Although Cat did not provide financial guidance for the rest of 2020, it said it may lay off more employees, and at the same time, because of the pandemic of the new crown epidemic, it may close more facilities.
