Cummins Inc. announced Tuesday it would lay off 2,000 salaried employees by the end of the year after third-quarter results showed a continued slowdown in global markets.
» SCOPE
The 2,000 employees represent about 3.7 percent of Cummins’ 54,600-person global workforce. The layoffs would result in the company saving between $160 million and $200 million a year.
» WHITE-COLLAR WORKERS
Tom Linebarger, chairman and chief executive officer, said the layoffs will come from among salaried professional workers.
The process of determining who those workers will be will continue during the next several weeks.
Cummins has about 9,000 employees at its southern Indiana plants and office buildings in Columbus and Seymour. Job reductions from Columbus and Seymour operations could range from a few hundred to possibly 500, according to company spokesman Jon Mills.
» PLANT STAFFING
The company is continuing to evaluate hourly worker staffing on a facility-by-facility basis and will determine if more significant restructuring will be required in the coming weeks or months.
» NOTIFYING EMPLOYEES
Cummins employees were notified Tuesday morning with an internal statement from Linebarger as the company was making its global announcement about third-quarter results.
» OTHER COST-REDUCTION STEPS
A number of cost reductions have been underway at Cummins for months, including program and project adjustments, reducing college hires and limiting travel expenses and consultant costs, Linebarger said.
» FOURTH-QUARTER IMPACT
Cummins will record pretax costs of $70 million to $90 million associated with the layoffs in the fourth quarter of this year.
PREVIOUS LAYOFFS:
» In December 2008, Cummins announced it had cut about 200 white-collar jobs in Indiana, the majority in Bartholomew County. The 2008 reductions were part of a cut of 600 professional workers globally.
» In February 2009, Cummins announced it was cutting 460 jobs, including 225 salaried workers in southern Indiana. A total of 235 hourly workers opted for an early-retirement package. In December 2009, Cummins idled 212 Diesel Workers Union members due to an expected decline in heavy-duty truck sales.
» In November 2012, about 1,300 Cummins jobs were eliminated globally including 150 workers in Columbus and Seymour. The local layoffs were in the Fuel Systems Plant in Columbus, the Columbus MidRange Engine plant and the Seymour Engine plant.
— Compiled by Julie McClure
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“For me personally, this is a really, really disappointing day.”
Tom Linebarger, chairman and chief executive officer, Cummins, Inc.
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