General Electric plans to lay off 80 employees in its digital unit in Norwalk. According to paperwork filed with the state Department of Labor, the layoffs will begin on Jan. 30.
Following the cuts, the company will employ about 600 people in Norwalk. Many of its Norwalk employees were relocated from Fairfield in the wake of last year”™s corporate move from that town to Boston.
This latest move appears to be the next step in a plan that GE announced last month. GE officials said they were looking to cut 25 percent of the company”™s corporate and research center jobs as part of a plan to trim at least $3 billion in expenses over two years. As part of that, GE said a number of Boston jobs would be sacrificed, although an exact number has not been disclosed.
In moving its headquarters, GE and the city of Boston worked together on an incentive package that includes up to $25 million in property tax relief and $120 million in additional benefits. GE pledged 800 Boston-based jobs; only 250 work there currently.