SOUTH MILWAUKEE -- Caterpillar has announced it is moving its headquarters from Oak Creek to South Milwaukee. This, according to South Milwaukee's mayor. The Oak Creek facility is Caterpillar's headquarters for its global surface mining division.
In a blog post, South Milwaukee's Mayor Erik Brooks said Caterpillar, based in Peoria, Illinois, announced to its employees on Monday that it will close sell its Oak Creek corporate building on S. Howell Avenue and move between 200 and 250 jobs back to South Milwaukee in the first half of 2016.
The full blog post is below:
Caterpillar has not made an official announcement, and officials could not be immediately reached for comment, the Milwaukee Business Journal reports.
This move comes after Caterpillar announced on September 24th that job cuts could exceed 10,000 through 2018 -- and that up to 5,000 employees will lose jobs between now and the end of 2016.
The moves are aimed at cutting $1.5 billion in annual costs as the global growth outlook continues to darken.
Caterpillar is heavily exposed to the turbulence ripping through the world's economy. Nearly 10% of the company's revenue is generated in China, where the country's economy is shifting from infrastructure-led growth to being more consumer driven.
The shift has led to a dramatic economic slowdown and many anticipate China will continue to stumble as its economy goes through a difficult transition.