GE Appliances will slash nearly a third of the jobs at its Bloomington Production Operation by the end of October, it announced Monday, attributing the layoffs to a decline in demand for the side-by-side refrigerators the factory makes.

About 160 people who work in production are set to lose their positions, cutting the plant’s total employment from 522 to approximately 364. Their last day of work will be Oct. 31.

GE expects about 35 percent of the 160-job reduction to be employees taking an early retirement option. The rest will come as layoffs.

It will be another date on a long list of workforce reductions for GE’s Bloomington operations. Its plant on Curry Pike once had thousands of employees before being hit by a series of layoffs over the past 14 years. At one point, in 2008, the facility was slated to close before GE reversed course and decided to continue production there because of tax credits for energy-efficient appliance production.

© 2024 HeraldTimesOnline, Bloomington, IN