In a blow to Illinois jobs, Caterpillar Inc. notified full-time production employees at its Aurora, Decatur and East Peoria, Illinois, manufacturing facilities of permanent layoffs. A total of 2,110 production employees will be laid off at the three facilities as a result of this decision.

In Aurora, where Caterpillar manufactures wheel loaders and hydraulic excavators, 500 production employees will be laid off. In Decatur, where the company manufactures off-highway trucks, motor graders and wheel tractor scrapers, 1,026 production employees will be laid off. In East Peoria, where Caterpillar manufactures track-type tractors and pipelayers, 584 production employees will be laid off.

In addition to the production employees, a total of 416 support and management employees in Aurora, Decatur and East Peoria have also been notified of layoffs today. This includes 96 support and management staff in Aurora, 146 in Decatur and 174 in East Peoria. These 416 support and management staff make up a portion of the as many as 5,000 layoffs and separations announced by Caterpillar on January 26, 2009. Other Caterpillar business units are currently determining the level of layoffs and separations needed to reach the previously announced plan to reduce the company’s support and management workforce.

These actions are in response to lower demand for products made at the Illinois facilities. As previously announced, Caterpillar is rapidly executing strategic “trough” plans and implementing actions throughout the company to deal with a very challenging global business environment. Depending on business conditions, more layoffs and separations may be required as the year unfolds.

“It is never easy to take steps that impact the lives of our employees and their families,” said Bob Williams, Caterpillar vice president for the Americas Operations Division that includes the facilities in Aurora, Decatur and East Peoria. “But over the last few months, recessionary conditions have had a very negative impact on our customers and we must drastically reduce our production levels and cost structure in order to remain competitive for the long run.”
Employees impacted by this decision were notified today by Caterpillar that the layoffs would begin on April 13, 2009. In addition, various government agencies and other officials were notified of this decision under the United States Department of Labor’s Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act (WARN) and the Illinois Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act (“IL WARN”).

In addition to reducing its global employment, Caterpillar has previously announced other actions in response to current conditions. These include:

• Hiring freezes and suspension of salary increases for most support and management employees.
• Significant reductions in total compensation for executives/senior managers.
• Significant reduction in capital expenditures.
• Sharp declines in overtime work.
• Several facilities have shortened workweeks. Others will or have implemented full and partial plant shutdowns.

Unemployment throughout the nation has been on the rise. In February 8.1 percent of America’s population was without work. Although several states’ unemployment rates for last month have yet to be released, data from January shows that finding a job in that finding a job in Illinois is becoming more difficult.

In January Illinois’ unemployment rate rose from 7.2 percent to 7.9 percent. According to the State Department of Employment Security, part of this increase can be blamed on the fact that 10,800 Illinois jobs in manufacturing. With Caterpillar Inc. having to severely reduce the number of employees, many experts expected the number of individuals claiming jobless benefits would rise significantly. During the same month, the national average was 7.6 percent, which means that finding work was somewhat more difficult in Illinois than in many other parts of the country.

With Caterpillar currently doing away with somewhere around 22,000 more jobs throughout their global operations, Illinois will likely lose a significant number of positions. This is due to the fact that the company has its headquarters in Peoria.

Over the last 12-months, Illinois has lost a total of 175,100 jobs. This has caused the state’s nonfarm employment to fall to 5,820,200. Manufacturing employment in Illinois fell by 38,800, which is approximately a 5.8 percent decline. The state’s construction industry has also been suffering, most likely due to the fact that housing market crisis has caused the necessity of new building projects to dwindle. The sector’s total job losses for the year ended up around 30,600 positions. Since this industry already employed a smaller number of people, the decline was much more significant. Around 11 percent of those employed in this industry lost their jobs. Other sectors that saw some problems included the financial industry, leisure and hospitality and the professional and business services sector.

Despite all of this, residents in Illinois have gained a little faith in the job market. According to Spherion, the state’s Employee Confidence Index rose 2.6 percent to 40.6 percent during January. Around 83 percent of those who are employed in the state feel that they are unlikely to lose their current position. This is a 10 percent increase from December.

“Illinois is keeping pace with the nation as far as the unemployment rate and national job picture is concerned, but surprisingly our national report indicated an increase of overall employee confidence,” said Jodie Wood, regional director of Spherion Staffing Services in the state. “There is really no clear cut reason why the state’s employee confidence has increased month over month, except for the fact that there is a renewed sense of optimism stemming from the new administration and economic stimulus package which we are hoping will create the jobs needed to jump start our market.”

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, things could be much worse in Illinois. Several states ended up having unemployment rates over ten percent in January. Michigan, where unemployment reached 11.6 percent, had the highest jobless rate in the country. The issues facing the auto industry have seriously affected the state. South Carolina followed with an unemployment rate of 10.4 percent. Rhode Island came in third with 10.3 percent of the population unable to find work. California rounded out the four worst states in the nation with an unemployment rate of 10.1 percent.

According to a company press release, Motorola, Inc. announced additional actions to further reduce costs amid continuing global economic challenges. These measures include changes to employee compensation and benefit programs as well as changes to executive compensation. Illinois jobs will be affected, as the company is based in the Schaumburg, a suburb of Chicago.

As part of the overall cost reduction program, Motorola is revising its employee compensation and benefit programs across the company. Effective March 1, 2009, to better align with industry norms, Motorola will permanently freeze its U.S. pension plans, preserving vested benefits accrued by employees and retirees but eliminating future benefit accruals. Motorola intends to continue to provide funding to meet its pension obligations to present and future retirees.

Effective January 1, 2009, Motorola also will temporarily suspend all company matching contributions to the Motorola 401(k) Plan. U.S. employees may continue to contribute to the 401(k) plan but will not receive matching contributions from Motorola.

The company also announced today that employees in many of the markets in which it operates will not receive a salary increase in 2009. In addition, Motorola co-chief executive officers, Greg Brown and Sanjay Jha will voluntarily take a 25 percent decrease in base salary in 2009.

Greg Brown will voluntarily forgo any 2008 cash bonus earned under the Motorola incentive plan. Sanjay Jha’s employment contract provides for a guaranteed cash bonus for 2008. His bonus will also be voluntarily reduced by an amount equal to Greg Brown’s forfeited bonus and the remainder will be taken in the form of restricted stock units.

These actions are expected to lead to cost savings in addition to the $800 million that was previously announced on October 30, 2008.

“The sustained downturn in the global economy requires that we take these difficult but necessary steps,” said Greg Brown and Sanjay Jha, co-chief executive officers of Motorola. “While serving our customers remains a top priority, we are equally focused on our cost structure, and we will continue to implement appropriate measures to conserve cash and reduce expenses.”

Sara Lee Corporation announced its intent to outsource pieces of its North American and European Finance and Global Information Services groups, as well as the company’s global indirect procurement activities. This effort is an important component of Sara Lee’s “Accelerate” initiative, the company’s series of global projects designed to drive annualized benefits of $200 – $250 million in the next three years.

As a result, approximately 700 positions, including roles currently performed by contractors, would become redundant. According to Crain’s Chicago Business, Illinois jobs, where the company is headquartered, will suffer only minimal cuts.

“’Project Accelerate’ is designed to improve margins and drive shareholder value as we continue to build the long-term strength of the company,” said Brenda Barnes, chairman and chief executive officer, Sara Lee Corp. “In addition to the cost savings, business process outsourcing will help Sara Lee further drive standardization, increase efficiency and provide flexibility.”

Sara Lee expects to begin implementation of the initiative in North America in the current fiscal year, and plans to complete global implementation within three years, fully respecting all required consultation procedures in Europe. The company is currently finalizing contract specifics with a third-party supplier.

The company operates various consumer brands, including AmbiPur, Ball Park, Douwe Egberts, Hillshire Farm, Jimmy Dean, Kiwi, Sanex, Sara Lee and Senseo. Collectively, these brands generate more than $13 billion in annual net sales covering approximately 200 countries. The Sara Lee community consists of 44,000 employees worldwide.

Those currently seeking a job in Illinois may want to check out the state’s hospitality and tourism industry, which is expected to grow over the next six years.

According to an article by the Illinois Department of Employment Security, employment in the hospitality and tourism industry is expected to grow about as fast as the average for all occupations through 2014.

“Job opportunities in the hospitality industry should be plentiful, especially in urban areas,” the article notes. “The large number of young and part-time workers in this industry generate substantial replacement needs. Numerous job opportunities will be available for people with limited job skills, first-time job seekers, senior citizens and those seeking part-time work schedules.

“Also contributing to job growth will be the increase in population and dual-income families and the dining sophistication of consumers,” the article adds. “In the hospitality and tourism industry, food preparation and serving workers, janitors and cleaners, food preparation workers, maids and housekeeping cleaners and restaurant cooks will have the most annual average job openings.”

The leisure and hospitality industry in Illinois employed 530,200 in July 2008, an increase of only .1 percent from last year, according to the United States Department of Labor Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Career options in the hospitality and tourism industry include:

• janitors and cleaners 3,758 annual openings and a median salary of $20,792
• combined food preparation and serving workers with 4,365 annual openings and a median salary of $14,833
• maids and housekeeping cleaners with 1,631 annual openings and a median salary of $17,361
• food preparation workers with 1,981 annual openings and a median salary of $17,087
• fast food cooks with 1,474 annual openings and a median salary of $14,839
• restaurant cooks with 1,365 annual openings and a median salary of $18,469
• bartenders with 1,143 annual openings and a median salary of $15,147
• recreation workers with 524 annual openings and a median salary of $19,937
• restaurant hosts and hostesses with 615 annual openings and a median salary of $16,087
• food service managers with 352 annual openings and a median salary of $38,067
• amusement and recreation attendants with 2,770 annual openings and a median salary of $16,044