The Times Union had a lenghty pielce on GE Power Layoffs in Schenectady and GRC layoffs...
See below:
General Electric Co., seeking to reduce costs, is offering severance packages to "a small percentage" of employees at its GE Power operations in Schenectady. No production manufacturing workers are being impacted, a GE spokeswoman said Friday morning.
In the Capital Region, GE employs about 7,000 people, including 2,000 at its Global Research Center headquarters in Niskayuna and nearly that number at its power generating equipment factory off Erie Boulevard and Interstate 890.
Earlier this week, GE and Trian Fund Management announced the company would cut $2 billion in costs at its industrial units, which include the Schenectady operations as well as the Global Research Center, as it seeks to boost earnings to $2 a share in 2018. GE earned $1.49 a share last year.
One source said the order book for turbines and generating equipment remains strong. In fact, the Port of Albany is in the early stages of a multi-million-dollar project to add warehouse space and new docks to store GE equipment awaiting shipment. The equipment would be moved to the port by barge from GE's Schenectady plant, which is next to the Mohawk River.
"Based on the current challenges in the power market and the integration of GE and legacy Alstom, GE Power continues to transform the business to support our growth strategy and meet the needs of our customers," a GE spokesperson said Friday. "As a result, we're taking employee actions to simplify our structure. These are difficult decisions, but necessary to ensure the long-term competitiveness of our business. We're committed to working with our employees during this transition."
GE has also faced the challenge of not having a fully functional Export-Import Bank to assist customers in financing purchases of domestically made power generating equipment, including the generators and steam turbines that are produced by workers in Schenectady.
About 85 percent of GE's output in Schenectady is exported.
"The U.S. remains the only major economy in the world without a fully functioning export bank," the spokesperson said. "GE has 100,000 employees in the United States with the best manufacturing facilities, including 20 new sites we have added over the last five years.
"In order for American companies to export outside the U.S. many customers require export credit agency funding," the spokesperson added. "If Congress wants to put more jobs in this country, we need the Export-Import Bank to be functioning.
Source: http://www.timesunion.com/7dayarchive/article/GE-cutting-small-percentage-of-jobs-in-11025434.php