COLUMBUS, Ind. — Engine maker Cummins Inc. plans to cut up to 2,000 salaried jobs worldwide in the coming months, with about a quarter of those reductions expected from its Indiana operations.
The company based in Columbus, Indiana, said Tuesday it has experienced weaker demand and a slump in global sales revenue, leading to the decision to cut almost 4 percent of its total workforce.
Cummins CEO Tom Linebarger said the company projects it will cut 500 jobs in Indiana, although details of the reduction are still being determined.
Cummins has about 8,000 employees at its offices, technical centers and factories in Columbus, Seymour and other nearby southern Indiana communities. No manufacturing job cuts were announced, although Linebarger said those operations would be reviewed by the end of this year.
“We really think the financial challenges, the market challenges that we’re going to face are going to persist for a while,” Linebarger told The Associated Press. “We don’t think this is a short-term deal.”
Cummins said its third quarter revenue was down 6 percent from the same period last year, with international revenues falling 18 percent, particularly in Brazil, Europe and China. Demand for its generators and engines used in farming and construction equipment has been low and “worsening,” the company said.
The cuts among its nearly 55,000 workers around the world will save Cummins between $160 million to $200 million a year, it said.
Cummins opened a new $70 million technical and office center in Seymour this month and plans to build a $30 million office tower for its global distribution business headquarters at the site of the former Market Square Arena in downtown Indianapolis.
Linebarger said the office tower project would move forward.
“We still need space and we still need a location in Indianapolis, so that still is the right thing to do,” he said.
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