Caterpillar Inc., Sprint Nextel Corp., Home Depot, Pfizer Inc., General Motors, ING Groep NV and Royal Phillips Electronics NY announced a combined 69,000 job cuts on Monday.

Caterpillar Inc., the maker of construction equipment is cutting 20,000 jobs after reporting today that its profit for the fourth quarter dropped almost by a third.

Also, pharmaceuticals giant Pfizer is cutting 19,000 jobs, including cuts to be made at rival Wyeth in a $68 billion deal acquisition also announced today. Wireless service provider Sprint Nextel Corp., is slashing 8,000 jobs to save $1.2 billion a year in costs, while the largest home-improvement retailer, Home Depot is cutting 7,000 jobs.

General Motors announced it is laying off 2,000 workers in two plants as vehicle sales decline. European financial services firm ING Groep NV is cutting 7,000 jobs.

Royal Phillips Electronics NV the largest consumer electronic in Europe is slashing 6,000 employees after posting the first quarterly loss in nearly six years.

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