Sun Sentinel Palm Beach Edition
GE to cut 12K jobs in power plant division
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 market that is being upended globally.
The cuts, representing 18 percent 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 jobs.
Other German facilities that may be affected are in Mannheim, Stuttgart and Kassel, the company said.
While President Donald Trump has pledged to revive the beleaguered coal industry, similar disruptions to the power grid are taking place everywhere.
Power companies are moving away from coal due to environmental regulations that are in place or anticipated, and for economic reasons as well. The cost of cleaner burning natural gas, solar and other alternative energies continues to fall.
That has had an enormous impact on workers in the power generation industry.
Data released by the Bureau of Labor Statistics in October suggest that the top-growing job classification over the next nine years will be solar photovoltaic installers. Wind turbine service technicians came in at No. 2.