Five blue-chip companies announced today that they are cutting their workforces by about 45,000 jobs, the latest losses to an already reeling economy.
Caterpillar, the world's largest manufacturer of construction equipment, announced that its fourth-quarter profit dropped 32%, a symptom of the worldwide economic slowdown. The drop will force the company to eliminate 20,000 jobs, about 18% of its workforce, through a combination of layoffs and buyouts, the company announced.
Drugmaker Pfizer Inc., which announced it will acquire rival Wyeth for $68 billion, also said it will cut about 8,000 jobs from its current workforce. Once the companies are merged, another 15% of the workforce, nearly 19,000 jobs, could be eliminated in the first years, said Pfizer spokesman Ray Kerins in a telephone interview.
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