General Electric has announced it will be cutting jobs from its GE Power division plant based in Schenectady, New York. The layoffs should begin in the next two weeks.
It is part of GE’s ongoing plan to cut costs in a number of its divisions, including the three divisions new CEO John Flannery said were vital to the future of the company: GE Power, Aviation, and Healthcare.
In December, GE announced it would eliminate about 12,000 jobs in all divisions worldwide. Former employees at the Schenectady plant say in its heyday, the plant employed more than 27,000 people. Now they believe there are less than 4,000.
GE did release a statement about the layoffs:
“As announced last month, based on the current challenges in the power industry and a significant decline in orders we plan to reduce our global headcount, affecting both professional and production employees. As part of these actions, we are restructuring our production capacity in Schenectady, NY. This action is difficult and does not reflect the performance, dedication, and hard work of our employees. GE will be providing a comprehensive severance package to impacted employees including transition support to new employment.” The company said the layoffs would both professional and production employees, although it did not give specific numbers.
The union representing the Schenectady workers is unhappy about the layoffs, releasing its own statement, saying, “It is disheartening that despite our members’ hard work and dedication, they have to pay such a steep price for GE’s mismanagement while the ones responsible such as Immelt are rewarded with lucrative severance packages,” IUE-CWA local 301 said in a statement. “Our main focus right now is on supporting our members affected and continuing our efforts to preserve middle class jobs.”
This is not expected to be the only layoffs by GE in 2018. Analysts says GE Global Research will be cutting costs by nearly $1 billion this year, which will definitely result in job losses.
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