On April 28, Caterpillar Inc. announced that it is being forced to close five U.S. plants and cut approximately 820 positions, only days before Arizona officials announced that it will be expanding operations in Arizona.
The Wall Street Journal reported:
The construction-equipment maker continues to scale back its production and workforce in response to falling demand.”
The cutbacks are part of a strategy outlined by the Peoria, Ill.-based company in September to trim its workforce by about 10,000 positions and close or consolidate about 20 facilities through 2018. The company said Thursday it has shed about 5,300 positions so far.
The plants in North Carolina, South Carolina, Florida and Mississippi designated for closure mostly produce components for Caterpillar machinery and engines. Their operations will be merged into other Caterpillar plants or assigned to parts suppliers outside of the company during the next 12 months to 18 months.
Caterpillar has had a more than 70-year presence in the state, and its Tucson Proving Ground and Tinaja Hills Demonstration Center locations currently have a workforce of approximately 300 people. According to a statement released by the governor’s office, this move significantly expands the company’s presence in the state, bringing total Caterpillar employment in Southern Arizona to nearly 1,000. Caterpillar will begin moving employees to Tucson in the summer.
The company is expected to lease the County owned space at 97 E. Congress.
After the devastating news about layoffs at the Chandler Intel sites, Governor Ducey and a majority on the Pima County Board of Supervisors desperately needed to share the news of Caterpillar’s “expansion.”
In 2015, the Wall Street Journal reported that the company was moving production from its Joliet, Illinois plant to one of its plants in Monterrey, Mexico.