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As General Electric, respectively the GE Grid Solutions division, announced Friday afternoon, the Oberentfelden location will not be moved to Birr, but will be closed. 436 jobs would be lost at Oberentfelden.
In addition, there are the jobs of 126 temporary employees. According to information from the union, they too are losing their jobs. So a total of 562 jobs will disappear.
In Switzerland 57 positions would be maintained. These positions come primarily from the areas of R&D, compliance, commercial and services to support the installed base in Switzerland, writes GE.
I made a job promise in July
In July, GE had told employees at the Oberentfelden site that they could move their jobs to the Birr site. This became known in union circles. GE justified the fact that this promise does not apply to information from an internal employee with a large expected decrease in orders for 2021: one less of about 30 percent. In a communication to the public, GE spoke of the bleak prospects for the future in the market, especially in the area of ”gas-insulated switchgear”.
The company did not provide any information in the press release on whether the positions will move to France and other countries, as rumored. Again, it can be heard from union circles that a large part of the remaining orders will be moved from the Oberentfelden location to France. A smaller part goes to China, India and possibly Italy.
Jobs in France, but lack of technical knowledge there
This relocation to France found misunderstanding in Oberentfelden. In Switzerland, according to trade unionists, one is of the opinion that colleagues in France “can’t do it.” In other words, the know-how and specialized knowledge required to place the remaining orders is lacking. This assessment is based, among other things, on the fact that a project recently had to be relocated from France to Oberentfelden. “Because they didn’t make it in France.”
Consequently, it must have been awkward for GE reps to go in front of employees. Security personnel were present at the employee information desk. Apparently GE had feared there might be fights. But it didn’t get that far. Employee representatives also say that the local management is not responsible.
The decision is apparently not final yet. The measure is “for review” with the Group’s European works council. The company declares: The final decision (…) will only be made when the consultation procedures of the European works council have been concluded, as well as at the local level in Switzerland. This is expected by the end of the year.
Unions appeal to the Federal Council
Unions still want to avoid downsizing altogether. Because there is a lack of industrial know-how in France anyway, offshoring will also weaken the whole group. Now the Federal Council must “finally speak clearly to GE.” It cannot be that the group continues to divide the industrial substance in Switzerland. It is also feared that employees laid off in Switzerland may still be able to accompany the relocation of their jobs.
The company wants to offer internal job placement to employees affected by the reduction. With comparable measures, more than 90 percent of employees would have found a new job at the end of their employment. In fact, GE now has a practice in cutting jobs.
Sad story: it is already the fourth mass dismissal
This marks a new chapter in the sad history since the US corporation General Electric took over the gas turbine business from French giant Alstom in 2016. It would be the fourth mass layoff. Before that, around 3,000 employees had already been added in three waves. The round trip over the location of Oberentfelden is a particularly inglorious chapter.
- In mid-2018, GE announced that 50 jobs would be cut at Oberentfelden. The remaining 500 would move to Birr in the spring of 2019 and the Oberentfelden location would be canceled.
- In December 2019, our newspaper revealed that GE had sold the area in Oberentfelden. To the transport company Dreier AG based in Suhr. The 500 jobs would now move to Birr, in the best case to Turgi.
- In February 2020 it was said: The plant in Oberentfelden is “working very well”, it is operating at full capacity and therefore will not be closed, and the workplaces will not be moved to Birr.
- And this morning at an employee information center it was explained that everything is different. The business is obviously bad, the jobs could not be moved to Birr, but would be moved overseas.
