Caterpillar could cut 10,000 jobs to reduce costs

Caterpillar Inc. announced Thursday a round of job cuts that could exceed 10,000 employees through 2018.

The number represents 8 percent of 126,800 workers the Peoria, Ill.-based company employed as of June 30. As many as 5,000 employees in Caterpillar’s salaried and management workforce could be fired by the end of the year, according to The Associated Press.

The company also announced Thursday it would revise its 2015 revenue forecast by $1 billion to about $48 billion, with sales in 2016 expected to be about 5 percent lower.

Caterpillar officials said the job cuts and other cost-cutting moves are expected to lower operating expenses by around $1.5 billion. The company has trimmed its total workforce by more than 31,000 workers since June 2012.

Read more from The Associated Press.