U.S. manufacturing giant General Electric plans to cut 6,500 jobs in Europe over the next two years, including 765 in France. GE employs about 22,000 people in the UK.
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GE has proposed up to 600 job cuts in its renewable energy operations across Europe.
The announcement follows the $10bn takeover of French firm Alstom’s power business.
The GE spokesman said the company would begin talks with French labour unions about the job cuts, saying they would come through voluntary departures and retraining would be offered to those in affected positions.
“This is a plan, which could change following discussion with employee representatives”, Petitjean said, according to Reuters.
Around 1,300 of the layoffs will be in Switzerland, the firm said.
Jeffrey Immelt, the long-standing chief executive of GE, met the French president François Hollande and appeared before the French National Assembly to win support for the deal, which is the largest ever undertaken by the USA company.
The French government has the power to block sales of businesses it sees as strategically important and as the nation’s economy struggles, it has been increasingly active in doing so.
The company said that it expected the cost savings to amount to around £2bn by year five of the deal.
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The acquisition has beefed up GE’s energy division to 65,000 employees in more than 120 countries, and Alstom is now focusing on its rail business including its TGV high-speed trains.
