CEO Contradicts Obama on Rehiring Employees

Feb. 12, 2009— -- At a Caterpillar Inc. plant in Peoria, Ill., today, President Obama said that his proposed economic stimulus would allow the company's CEO to rehire recently laid-off employees. But the head of the company said he will have to fire more workers before he can rehire anyone who has been let go.

Obama has said twice in the past two days that Caterpillar CEO James Owens indicated his company would be able to rehire some of the 20,000 recently laid-off employees.

"Yesterday, Jim, the head of Caterpillar, said that if Congress passes our plan, this company will be able to rehire some of the folks who were just laid off," Obama said today in Peoria.

But when asked today if the stimulus could do that, Owens said, "I think, realistically, no. The honest reality is we're probably going to have more layoffs before we start hiring again."

Caterpillar announced last month that it will lose 20,000 jobs worldwide through layoffs and attrition, of which 15,000 had already occurred in 2008 or were in the process of happening. Caterpillar also reported that profits fell 32 percent in the fourth quarter of 2008 as a result of sharply declining sales.

Four days after that Jan. 26 layoff announcement, Caterpillar said it would let go of an additional 2,110 Illinois-based employees, including 584 at the Peoria plant. Caterpillar has lowered its profit expectations for 2009 as the global economic woes dampen the demand for heavy equipment. The company is betting on $40 billion in sales for this year, which would be a 22 percent drop from 2008.

Owens also cautioned that even if a stimulus is passed within the next month, the effects will not be immediate and are more likely to impact construction activity at the end of 2009 or spring 2010.

"As these projects kick in, one concern I have that we need to be mindful of, is that even if this stimulus package passes, not only here but around the world, it still takes a little time to bid the contracts and get the dirt work started," said Owens, who serves on the president's recently announced Economic Recovery Advisory Board and flew to Peoria aboard Air Force One.