GE cuts 12,000 power jobs as demand, renewables skew market

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 the cuts to both office and production jobs will help "right-size" GE Power in traditional power markets 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 already have 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 positions.

Other German facilities that may be affected are in Mannheim, Stuttgart and Kassel, the company said.

Last month, citing "disruption of unprecedented scope and speed," in power distribution markets, Siemens announced plans to cut about 6,900 jobs worldwide, half of them in Germany.

While President Donald Trump has pledged to revive the country's beleaguered coal industry, similar disruptions to the power grid are taking place everywhere.

Power companies are moving away from coal due to environmental regulations 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 suggests the top-growing job classification over the next nine years will be solar photovoltaic installers. Wind turbine service technicians came in at No. 2.

Most power generation in the U.S. still is derived from fossil fuels, but the balance is shifting.

The Trump administration has promised to bolster nuclear and coal-fired power plants, even though those facilities are being retired at a steady pace.

A number of former federal energy regulators have come out against the administration's plans, calling it a step backward.

Changing habits have reduced the power consumed in most households, as has more efficient technology.

GE said reducing the number of positions, along with actions previously taken this year, will help GE Power, based in Atlanta, trim costs by $1 billion in 2018. GE is looking to reduce overall structural costs by $3.5 billion in 2017 and 2018.

GE, based in Boston, announced in November it was slashing its dividend in half and the conglomerate would narrow its focus to three key sectors -- aviation, health care and energy. The company has said it will shed assets worth more than $20 billion in the next couple of years. It's been paring businesses for more than a decade.