Oshkosh Corporation Announces Defense Employee Layoffs Slated for June/July 2014

OSHKOSH, Wis.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--

Oshkosh Corporation OSK announced today that its Defense segment plans to reduce its workforce in Oshkosh by approximately 700 hourly positions starting in June 2014. In addition, approximately 60 salaried positions will be eliminated starting in July with the vast majority being temporary employees and those retiring. After the layoffs, Oshkosh Defense will employ approximately 1,850 employees in Oshkosh.

“We need to reshape our workforce with U.S. defense spending down as a result of tight government budgets and a return to peacetime operations,” said John Urias, Oshkosh Corporation executive vice president and president of Oshkosh Defense. “We have gone to great lengths to minimize and delay the impact of the reduced spending on our Defense workforce. We explored and implemented a range of alternatives from not filling open positions to bringing in outside contracted work as promised in earlier discussions with the UAW, which represents our production employees, as well as continuing to pursue relevant international opportunities.”

Oshkosh plans to reach out to county and state workforce development agencies and local employers to help those affected in the layoffs make the transition to other employment if they so desire. The Company also plans to hold job fairs with local and state-wide employers.

Urias went on to say, “We stand very committed to our customer, as well as our employees, and will be diligent in our actions to be aligned with the current defense business environment. We will continue to employ a strong workforce ready to fulfill all contractual requirements and new potential opportunities, such as the Joint Light Tactical Vehicle program.”

Oshkosh Defense will continue to leverage its broad product offerings and exceptional design and engineering expertise to pursue new opportunities both in the U.S. and abroad. The Company will continue to build high-quality trucks, trailers and components, and provide aftermarket service and training for our military customers around the clock and around the world.

Oshkosh is a strong Company positioned to successfully execute its MOVE strategy, to continue to grow its businesses and to serve and delight its customers.

About Oshkosh Defense

Oshkosh Defense is a leading provider of tactical wheeled vehicles and life cycle sustainment services. For more than 90 years, Oshkosh has been mobilizing military and security forces around the globe by offering a full portfolio of heavy, medium, light and highly protected military vehicles to support our customers' missions. In addition, Oshkosh offers advanced technologies and vehicle components such as TAK-4^® independent suspension systems, TerraMax^® unmanned ground vehicle solutions, Command Zone^™ integrated control and diagnostics system, and ProPulse^® diesel electric and on-board vehicle power solutions, to provide our customers with a technical edge as they fulfill their missions. Every Oshkosh vehicle is backed by a team of defense industry experts and complete range of sustainment and training services to optimize fleet readiness and performance.

To learn more about Oshkosh Defense, please visit us at www.oshkoshdefense.com.

About Oshkosh Corporation

Oshkosh Corporation had sales of nearly $7.7 billion in fiscal 2013 and is ranked in the top 400 on Fortune Magazine's list of the 500 largest U.S. publicly traded companies. Oshkosh manufactures in eight U.S. states and seven countries with sales in 130 countries.

Oshkosh Corporation is a leading designer, manufacturer and marketer of a broad range of specialty access equipment, commercial, fire & emergency and military vehicles and vehicle bodies. Oshkosh Corporation manufactures, distributes and services products under the brands of Oshkosh^®, JLG^®, Pierce^®, McNeilus^®, Jerr-Dan^®, Frontline^™, CON-E-CO^®, London^® and IMT^®. Oshkosh products are valued worldwide in businesses where high quality, superior performance, rugged reliability and long-term value are paramount. For more information, visit www.oshkoshcorporation.com.

^®, ™ All brand names referred to in this news release are trademarks of Oshkosh Corporation or its subsidiary companies.

Forward-Looking Statements

This press release contains statements that the Company believes to be “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. All statements other than statements of historical fact, including, without limitation, statements regarding the Company's future financial position, business strategy, targets, projected sales, costs, earnings, capital expenditures, debt levels and cash flows, and plans and objectives of management for future operations are forward-looking statements. When used in this press release, words such as “may,” “will,” “expect,” “intend,” “estimate,” “anticipate,” “believe,” “should,” “project” or “plan” or the negative thereof or variations thereon or similar terminology are generally intended to identify forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance and are subject to risks, uncertainties, assumptions and other factors, some of which are beyond the Company's control, which could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. These factors include the cyclical nature of the Company's access equipment, commercial and fire & emergency markets, especially with the current outlook for U.S. and European economic recoveries; the strength of emerging market growth and projected adoption rate of work at height machinery; the expected level and timing of U.S. Department of Defense (“DoD”) and international defense customer procurement of products and services and funding thereof; risks related to reductions in government expenditures in light of U.S. defense budget pressures, sequestration and an uncertain DoD tactical wheeled vehicle strategy, including the Company's ability to successfully manage the cost reductions required as a result of the significant projected decrease in sales levels in the defense segment; the Company's ability to win a U.S. Joint Light Tactical Vehicle production contract award; the Company's ability to increase prices to raise margins or offset higher input costs; increasing commodity and other raw material costs, particularly in a sustained economic recovery; risks related to facilities consolidation and alignment, including the amounts of related costs and charges and that anticipated cost savings may not be achieved; the duration of the ongoing global economic uncertainty, which could lead to additional impairment charges related to many of the Company's intangible assets and/or a slower recovery in the Company's cyclical businesses than Company or equity market expectations; risks related to the collectability of receivables, particularly for those businesses with exposure to construction markets; the cost of any warranty campaigns related to the Company's products; risks related to production or shipment delays arising from quality or production issues; risks associated with international operations and sales, including foreign currency fluctuations and compliance with the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act; the Company's ability to comply with complex laws and regulations applicable to U.S. government contractors; and risks related to the Company's ability to successfully execute on its strategic road map and meet its long-term financial goals. Additional information concerning these and other factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those in the forward-looking statements is contained in the Company's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including the Form 8-K filed. All forward-looking statements speak only as of the date of this press release. The Company assumes no obligation, and disclaims any obligation, to update information contained in this press release.