GE cuts 12K power jobs as demand, renewables, skew market
NEWARK, N.J. — General Electric Co. will cut 12,000 jobs in its power division as alternative energy supplants demand for coal and other fossil fuels, and energy demand declines overall.
The company said Thursday that the cuts to both office and production jobs, will help “right-size” GE Power in a traditional power markets that is being upended globally.
The cuts, representing 18 per cent of all jobs at GE Power, will take place largely outside of the U.S. Many will be in Europe, where other energy companies have already announced reductions.
GE plans to cut 1,400 of its 4,200 positions in Switzerland over the next two years. While no facilities are expected to close in Switzerland, the company said the GE Power Conversion unit in Berlin and GE Grid Solutions in Moenchengladbach, Germany, would be closed. GE plans to trim its German workforce by 1,600 positions.