General Electric To Cut 10% Of Total U.S. Workforce At GE Aviation - Quick Facts

(RTTNews) - General Electric Co. (GE) Chairman and CEO Lawrence Culp, Jr., in a letter to employees on Monday, provided an update on the latest steps taken to aggressively mitigate the impact of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic that continues to spread and worsen.

Culp said the company remains focused on three areas during these unprecedented times: protecting the safety of its employees, continuing to serve customers in their critical time of need and preserving the strength of its businesses.

He noted that GE Aviation, an operating unit of GE, is announcing several steps to mitigate the rapid contraction of air travel that has resulted in a significant reduction in demand as commercial airlines suspend routes and ground large percentages of their fleets.

GE Aviation is planning to reduce approximately 10 percent of its total U.S. workforce. There will be a temporary lack of work impacting approximately 50 percent of its U.S. maintenance, repair and overhaul employees for 90 days.

This is in addition to the steps already taken by the business, including a hiring freeze, the cancellation of the salaried merit increase, a dramatic reduction of all non-essential spending, and a significant decrease in its contingent workforce.

Additionally, Culp has decided to forgo his full salary for the remainder of 2020. Starting April 1, David Joyce, vice chairman of GE and president and CEO of GE Aviation, will forgo half of his salary.

Culp said all these cost and cash actions taken together are expected to preserve $500 million to $1 billion in 2020.