General Electric to Cut a Total of 6,500 Jobs in Europe

American engineering giant General Electric (GE) announced on Wednesday that it will cut up to 6,500 jobs in its energy divisions in Europe, which it acquired from French Alstom, over the next two years.

The figure includes 765 jobs in France, although the American group simultaneously announced the creation of other jobs in that country, in accordance with a contractual obligation taken on during the acquisition of Alstom’s energy business to create one thousand jobs in France.
 
Thus, a spokesperson for the American company stated that this promise will be fulfilled in the next three years.

A spokesperson for the French government, Stephane Le Foll, responded that Paris will closely monitor whether GE fulfills its commitments.

The government has a veto on the sale of companies in strategic economic sectors, and in the case of Alstom, there were fears of losing the industrial base for key technologies in the nuclear energy segment. They are additionally concerned about job losses, given the high unemployment rate.

General Electric completed the acquisition of Alstom’s energy business in November last year, including gas and steam turbines, wind turbines, hydroelectric turbines, and electrical grids, thereby increasing the number of employees by 65,000, on top of the then 305,000.

A spokesperson for the American company announced negotiations with French unions regarding layoffs, emphasizing that the number of jobs will be reduced through voluntary departures and professional retraining for those whose jobs will be eliminated.

BBC reports that 600 jobs are in question in the United Kingdom, out of a total of 22,000 employed by GE in that country. In Switzerland, according to announcements from GE, about 1,300 jobs are expected to be cut, further reports BBC, and across Europe, layoffs could most affect employees in renewable energy operations, power plant servicing, and energy management departments.

The GE spokesperson adds that as part of the restructuring, jobs will also be cut in countries outside Europe, given the turmoil caused in the energy industry by falling oil and gas prices. However, he did not want to confirm the figure of 10,000 jobs that are expected to be cut according to the newspaper L’Est Republican, notes the AFP agency.

In September, the head of GE’s energy business stated that GE aims to save three billion dollars over five years following the acquisition of Alstom.