GE is cutting up to 13,000 aviation jobs
“While extremely difficult, I am confident this is the required response to the continued contraction of the industry, and its protracted recovery,” GE Aviation CEO David Joyce wrote in a memo to employees. “I am equally confident that the industry will recover over time and that we will be positioned to win.”
GE Aviation said the job cuts will help the company save $1 billion. The job cuts will apply to salaried and hourly workers around the world over the coming months.
In late March, GE announced it would cut 10% of its US workforce, or about 2,600 employees. The company also said it would furlough about half of its US maintenance, repair, overhaul and new engine manufacturing workers.
GE is for the first time detailing the impact on its global workforce, which totaled about 52,000 at the end of 2019.
GE’s stalled comeback
The coronavirus pandemic is disrupting the turnaround efforts at GE, which relies on the aviation division for the largest portion of its revenue.
Last week GE said it estimates the crisis has wiped out about $900 million of its earnings and hurt free cash flow by around $1 billion.
The jet engine division suffered the biggest blow and GE has warned the recovery will be slow.
It’s not just the aviation division that is cutting costs. GE also lowered the headcount at its power division by 700 during the first quarter and implemented a hiring freeze.