General Electric Co. is cutting up to 6,500 jobs in Europe after buying a big chunk of French engineering company Alstom, but sticking to pledges to create a net 1,000 jobs in France.
The
French government, facing chronic 10 percent unemployment and a
struggling industrial sector, had been concerned that the $17 billion
Alstom takeover deal in 2014 would cause layoffs. To ease those
concerns, GE promised to create jobs instead of destroying them.
In
fact, it's doing both. GE France spokesman Laurent Wormser said that
756 of the 6,500 job losses in Europe will hit its French operations,
primarily administrative jobs in the Paris region.
But they will be replaced with jobs in other sectors of the French operations, which employ 14,000 people, he said.
Government
spokesman Stephane Le Foll said the state would "monitor" GE's job
creation promise. "The French government is accountable ... for the
commitment made by General Electric," he told reporters Wednesday.
The
purchase was part of GE's focus on building and servicing industrial
equipment. The company said in a statement that recruiting for new jobs
will begin this month, and will include posts in a new software center
and services center as well as some manufacturing jobs.
By: The Associated Press.
Review: Emerging Market Formulations & Research Unit, Flagship Records.
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