Workforce imbalances

In $2009,$ Caterpillar announced that it was cutting down the amount of time its employees in its Layfayette, Indiana plant could work. The recession had reduced Caterpillar's business enough that it could no longer have its employees working an $8-$hour day, but it didn't want to let skilled employees leave the company. What approach did Caterpillar use to deal with their surplus of employees?