GE to add 100 jobs at Speers plant over the next year

November 21, 2019

Rick Shrum
Observer-Reporter

GE Renewable Energy plans to expand its Speers workforce by 50% over the next year.

A division of Paris-based General Electric, GE Renewable said in a news release Wednesday that it plans to add 100 or more employees at the Mon Valley plant, an electrical equipment manufacturer, by the end of 2020. About 200 are currently employed at the site.

Spokeswoman Lisa Bushka said “job postings will be staggered throughout the year” at the location in Speers Industrial Park.

The expansion is the result of a consolidation of switchgear operations by the company. GE Renewables plans to close a plant in Waynesboro, Ga., near the end of 2020. High-voltage instrument transformers are designed and manufactured there, a process that will be moved to Speers. This will be an expansion of duties at the Mon Valley locale, where high-voltage circuit breakers are currently designed and made.

Waynesboro plant employees will have the opportunity to transfer to Speers. GE said it is “providing a comprehensive severance package to employees.”

Bushka said in a statement: “Based on the current competitive market conditions, GE Renewable Energy has made the difficult decision to combine our U.S. high-voltage switchgear manufacturing into one U.S. location in Pennsylvania.”

GE took over the Speers and Waynesboro facilities when it completed its acquisition of Alstom’s power and grid business in November 2015.