 is set to cut 12,000 employees from its global workforce too offset the fall in demand, the company warned on Thursday.){kind=link}
General Electric (NYSE:GE) is set to cut 12,000 employees from its global workforce, the company warned on Thursday.
The US firm is set to cut various jobs in a bit to increase cost-efficiency, amid a fall in demand for new power stations and faltering investment from clients.
Specifically, in the UK job losses would affect staff in Rugby and Stafford, resulting in a shrinking of the firm’s 18,000-strong UK workforce by 6 percent.
“Today’s actions are driven by challenges in the power market worldwide,” GE commented, adding that conditions in western European market have been particularly poor.
“To get back to competitiveness GE Power needs to remove cost substantially from its businesses.”
Mark Elborne, head of GE UK & Ireland, commented on the announcement: “These are not proposals we ever make lightly and we understand that this news will be difficult for many people. Unfortunately we believe that these changes are necessary to ensure that we can remain competitive and secure the future of GE Power in the UK.
“We have shared our proposals with employees’ representatives today and will now begin a consultation period before any final decisions are made.”
Back in October, General Electric shares took a hit after earnings were forecast to be significantly below expectations.
GE revealed their EPS were 29c for Q3, down on Reuters analysts expectations, which were 49c. This marked a fall of 9 percent less from their EPS the previous year.
Revenue for the quarter came in at $33.5 billion, marking a 14 percent growth, above analyst expectations of $32.6 billion. Nevertheless, net earnings fell to $1.8 billion, denoting a 5 percent decrease compared to last year.
GE Power is the company’s largest industrial business, with more than 55,000 employees globally. However, given a slowdown in the world’s traditional power markets, the company have had to offset a downturn in its energy businesses.
Shares in the company are currently up marginally, 0.057 percent as of 14.45PM (GMT).