Caterpillar Begins U.S. Layoffs Early; 1,726 Workers In Central Illionois Losing Jobs In April

April 6, 2009 6:10 p.m. EST

Peoria, IL (AHN) - Heavy equipment manufacturing giant Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE: CAT) began layoffs at its Decatur, IL plant two weeks earlier than scheduled because of slowing world wide demand for its trucks and earth moving equipment.

Layoffs weren't supposed to begin at that central Illinois plant until April 13, but it cut more than 1,000 jobs two weeks early there. Layoffs at its East Peoria plant will still begin April 13.

The company is laying off 1,026 employees in Decatur and another 700 in East Peoria.

Those layoffs are part of 24,000 scheduled worldwide, but don't include rolling temporary layoffs.