Cummins looking to cut another 350 jobs-WEB ONLY

Columbus engine maker Cummins Inc. said today that it has offered voluntary retirement packages to about 700 hourly employees in southern Indiana.

The company will accept as many as 350 voluntary retirement applications, and most of the affected employees are expected to leave their jobs by March 1.

“The demand for our engines and related products continues to fall, and despite the significant steps already taken to align our costs with that demand, permanent job reductions have become necessary,'” Cummins executive Jim Kelly said in a prepared statement.

In the past four months, Cummins has announced job reductions affecting more than 1,400 salaried workers and approximately 1,000 hourly workers worldwide. The company also has eliminated 2,500 contract and temporary positions, froze salaries for professional employees and reduced officers’ salaries by 10 percent.

Cummins employs about 2,800 hourly workers in southern Indiana and about 6,200 total in Indiana. The company reduced its professional work force in Indiana by about 200 people in December through a combination of retirements and involuntary job cuts, and last month announced a second round of professional job reductions that will result in additional job losses in the state.