Jan. 26 (Bloomberg) -- Caterpillar Inc., Sprint Nextel Corp. and Home Depot Inc. led companies announcing plans today to cut at least 61,000 jobs as sales withered and construction slowed amid the global economic decline.
The biggest layoffs were at Peoria, Illinois-based Caterpillar. The world’s largest maker of construction equipment said it’s cutting 20,000 jobs after fourth-quarter profit fell by almost a third.


Pfizer Inc., the leading drugmaker, said it’s acquiring competitor Wyeth for $68 billion and will close five factories and eliminate 19,000 jobs, or 15 percent, of the combined company’s workforce.


The firings came as American jobless claims reached 589,000 in the week ended Jan. 17, matching the highest level in 26 years, as shrinking demand for products and services forced companies to lower costs. U.S. President Barack Obama today said job cuts demonstrate the urgent need for the economic stimulus program being debated in Congress.


Employers “are each cutting thousands of jobs. These are not just numbers on a page,” Obama said today at the White House. “We cannot afford distractions, we cannot afford delays” in getting legislation to boost the economy through Congress.
Sprint Nextel Corp., the U.S. wireless carrier, will cut 8,000 jobs, or 14 percent of its workforce, in order to reduce expenses by $1.2 billion a year.
Home Depot


Home Depot Inc., the world’s largest home-improvement retailer, said it will cut 7,000 jobs, or 2 percent of its workforce, and exit its Expo home-décor business.
“Certainly since 2001, with the dot-com collapse, we haven’t seen these kinds of large cuts,” James Pedderson, a spokesman for Challenger Gray & Christmas Inc., a Chicago-based provider of executive-outplacement services, said in an interview. “In terms of the number of companies and the number of cuts, this morning is certainly unusual.”


ING Groep NV, the biggest Dutch financial-services company, said it will reduce its workforce by 5.4 percent, eliminating 7,000 jobs. ING reported its second consecutive quarterly loss as it took 1.8 billion euros ($2.36 billion) worth of writedowns on the value of mortgage assets.


To contact the reporter on this story: Don Jeffrey in New York at djeffrey1@bloomberg.net.
Last Updated: January 26, 2009 11:22 EST