GE CUTS 12,000 POWER JOBS AS DEMAND WANES

BOSTON» General Electric Co. will cut 12,000 jobs in its power division as alternative energy supplants demand for coal and other fossil fuels.

The company said Thursday that the cuts to both office and production jobs, will help “rightsize” GE Power, as traditional power markets, and the volume of the fuels that power them, decline.

The unit has been a drag on earnings for the struggling company. GE’s stock has fallen 44 percent this year. That’s the worst performance of any member of the Dow Jones Industrial Average.

The job cuts will mostly be outside the U.S. and will comprise approximately 18 percent of the power unit’s workforce. GE would not say where workers would be effected, but the power distribution network in Europe has seen significant disruption as demand there wanes. Last month, industrial conglomerate Siemens announced plans to cut about 6,900 jobs worldwide at its power, gas and drives divisions, half of them in Germany.