The restructuring events database contains factsheets with data on large-scale restructuring events reported in the principal national media and company websites in each EU Member State. This database was created in 2002.
Manufacturing Manufacturing Of Machinery And Equipment Manufacture Of Machinery And Equipment N.E.C. 28.11 - Manufacture of engines and turbines, except aircraft, vehicle and cycle engines
1,100 jobs Number of planned job losses
Announcement Date
13 January 2016
Employment effect (start)
13 January 2016
Foreseen end date
31 December 2018
Description
US multinational conglomerate General Electric has announced plans to cut 1,700 jobs in Germany. In total, the company wants to cut 6,500 jobs across Europe. According to the management, job cuts are due to internal restructuring with the company wanting to become more competitive. Moreover, generation of electricity with gas and steam turbines is significantly decreasing across Europe. Most affected are employees in Mannheim due to the acquisition of Alstom, a french global power and engineering firm. Other dismissals will take place in Stuttgart and Wiesbaden. The plant in Bexbach faces the threat of closure.
The company is currently negotiatingwith employee representatives about the new structure. Headquartered in Fairfield, Connecticut, General Electric employs around 300,000 employees in more than 100 countries worldwide.
Update:
US multinational conglomerate General Electric (GE) has announced plans to cut 1,100 jobs in Mannheim and Bexbach. The first announcement has been made in January 2016 (General Electric, 2016) but due to many protests and a long conflict between the works’ council, the Metalworkers’ Union and the GE management the exact implementation remained unclear. Finally on 7 February 2017 an agreement over a social plan has been published.
The German Metalworkers’ Union organised 10 protests in 2016 and even tried to find buyers for the affected parts of the company and went to the labour court. At the end, the labour court instated a conciliation board. At the site in Mannheim, 700 out of 1,800 employees remain unaffected by the job cuts. These are position in the service and development department. However, the manufacturing of gas- and steam turbines will be closed completely.
The site in Bexbach will also be closed completely, 150 employees are affected with 300 employees having agreed to partial retirement. Furthermore, there will be three transfer agencies as well as severance payments which will be calculated according to the years of employment. The first transfer agency will start in April and the second one in July 2017, both of them will run for 18 months. The third transfer agency will start at the beginning of 2018 and last for 12 months. However, several employees already quit in the meantime during the conflict. The transfer companies offer further qualifications and 85% of the previous net salaries. General Electric will pay a total of €500 million for these measures.
In 2016 General Electric created 200 research jobs in Germany (General Electric, 2016). Headquartered in Fairfield, Connecticut, General Electric employs around 11,000 employees across more than 50 sites in Germany.
Sources
13 January 2016: Stuttgarter Zeitung
13 January 2016: Handelsblatt (online version)
14 January 2016: morgenweb.de
7 February 2017: SWR.DE
Citation
Eurofound (2016), General Electric, Internal restructuring in Germany, factsheet number 86145, European Restructuring Monitor. Dublin, https://restructuringeventsprod.azurewebsites.net/restructuring-events/detail/86145.
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