General Electric To Cut Up To 660 UK Jobs

US-based giant General Electric are poised to cut up to 660 UK jobs as part of a shake-up, Sky News understands.

The announcement follows the $10bn takeover of French firm Alstom (Paris: FR0010220475 - news) 's power business.

Sky News understands up to 3% of GE's 22,000-strong UK workforce could be made redundant as a result of a European restructuring, which is likely to see a total of 6,500 jobs lost.

The jobs cuts relate to streamlining associated with the acquisition of Alstom.

GE completed the Alstom deal in November 2015 having first bid for the company in April (LSE: 0N69.L - news) 2014.

The company said that it expected the cost savings to amount to around £2bn by year five of the deal.

Last September Sky News' City Editor Mark Kleinman exclusively revealed that up to 1,000 new jobs could be created by GE in the UK.

This would offset the latest job losses and actually see GE's UK workforce grow.