Laid off Caterpillar workers may get jobs back

Caterpillar Inc., the world's largest maker of bulldozers and excavators, aims to bring back some laid-off workers next year as sales improve, said Chief Executive Officer Jim Owens.

Locally, the company has operations in Montgomery.

"We'll gradually begin to call people back and to rebuild our overall sales and ability to ship product," Owens, 63, said today in an interview with Bloomberg TV. "I think it will gradually begin to pick up as 2010 unfolds."

"We think the bottom has passed," Owens said today on a CNBC interview.

Caterpillar cut about 18,700 full-time jobs and about the same number of temporary workers since December 2008 as the global recession reduced demand. The Peoria-based company predicts 2010 sales will increase as much as 25 percent from the midpoint of the 2009 forecast range, and in October announced plans to call back about 550 U.S. workers in 2009.

Owens serves on President Barack Obama's Economic Recovery Advisory Board. Themes that Owens emphasizes as a member of that group include the passage of trade agreements.

"We as a country need to save more, invest more and export more," said Owens.

Caterpillar sees growth in emerging markets and is investing in areas including China and India.

"We expect real growth in the emerging markets overall to be two and a half to three times the rate of growth in the U.S., Western Europe and Japan over the next decade or two," he said. "It's very important for us to have a strong presence."