Thousands of employees axed as GE undergoes massive restructuring

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General Electric (GE) will undergo a corporate restructuring which includes thousands of employees being laid off.  According to multiple media reports such as Channel NewsAsia, The Times of India and The Economic Times, GE has broadly referred to the move as “workforce reductions” through consolidation, cost cuts and cessation.

CFO Jamie Miller said GE will reduce its corporate workforce, which currently has approximately 24,000 employees, by 25%. According to Channel NewsAsia, this represents about 6,000 job cuts, including the research and digital divisions at GE.

In a bid to focus more on aviation, healthcare and energy, GE also intends to sell parts of its transportation and electricity businesses, media reports stated.

CEO John Flannery (pictured), who assumed the position in August this year, told shareholders in a meeting recently that the plan would bring about a “simpler, more-focused GE”. He added that GE has not performed well for its owners and that “complexity has hurt [the company]”. Marketing has reached out to GE more comment on whether the job cuts will affect the marketing teams in Asia Pacific.

In its Q3 2017 financial report ended 30 September, GE reported a total revenue of US$33,472 million, a 10% increase from US$29,266 million during the same period last year. Its oil and gas segment experienced an 81% jump in revenue from US$2,940 million in Q3 2016 to US$5,365 million in Q3 2017. On the other hand, its power segment saw a four percent decrease in revenue from US$8,995 million in Q3 2016 to US$8,679 million Q3 2017.

Meanwhile, its aviation segment witnessed an eight percent increase in revenue from US$6,300 million last year to US$6,816 million this year, while its renewable energy segment saw a 5% increase from US$2,770 million during the same period last year to US$2,905 million this year. According to its Q3 financial statement, GE is expecting to face continued business challenges and market challenges in the areas of power and oil and gas/transportation respectively.

The story was first reported by Marketing-Interactive.com.