NU Online News Service, April 16, 1:31 p.m. – General Electric Capital Corp., Stamford, Conn., is still not saying how many of the 7,000 jobs it plans to cut will come from GE's life insurance and annuity operations.
But GE Capital spokesman John Oliver insists that many of the cuts will come through attrition and moving employees into new jobs, not just layoffs.
Wall Street analysts contend that GE Capital is making the cuts because its parent company, General Electric Company, Fairfield, Conn., wants to show investors it's serious about getting earnings growth back on track.
But Oliver says the cutbacks are just the latest phase of pruning that started more than two years ago.
"This announcement doesn't represent a new direction or change," Oliver says. "It's no different from what we've been doing. The difference is now we've put a number to it."
Besides, Oliver says, "in context, it's not that big a number."
GE Capital employs a total of 90,000 people in 45 countries. GE estimates GE Capital has already cut about 19,000 jobs since late 2000.
