General Electric's Louisville-based Consumer & Industrial division plans 1,400 job cuts, mostly in Brazil and other lighting facilities in North America.
Lighting operations in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, will be closed, costing about 900 jobs, the company said. Some lighting operations in the U.S. will also close, affecting about 425 jobs. Some of the jobs will be transferred to other GE Lighting facilities in the U.S.
About 80 positions will be affected by transferring some operations from facilities in Mexico and the U.S. to other GE locations or suppliers.
None of the moves will affect Consumer & Industrial's Louisville headquarters, GE spokeswoman Kim Freeman said.
"The restructuring we are proposing, while very difficult due to the impact on employees, would be one of the most important things we've done in the 100+-year history of GE's lighting business," Jim Campbell, president & CEO of GE Consumer & Industrial, said in a prepared statement. "Global market demand for the most common household lighting product - the incandescent bulb - has dramatically declined over the past five years, and is accelerating due to new efficiency standards and technology advancements."
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