General Electric to freeze $14bn pension pot for 2,700 UK staff
General Electric Co will freeze pension benefits for around 2,700 UK employees from January 2022 and take a related charge, the company announced today.
GE’s pension benefit obligation in the UK was about $14bn at the end of 2020.
GE’s pension plan has been closed to new entrants in the UK since September 2011. At the end of 2020, the company’s pension benefit obligation in the UK was about $14bn (£9.9bn).
The company said: “affected employees will automatically be enrolled into GE’s existing defined contribution scheme,” according to reports.
GE is still working to manage its pension obligation and reduce debt.
“Continuing to solidify GE’s financial position requires us to make difficult decisions,” the company’s Chief Human Resources Officer Kevin Cox said.
The company, which produces power plants and aircraft engines, suffered a rebuke from shareholders over its CEO’s pay package of $73.2m earlier this year.
GE said it will record a non-cash curtailment charge in the second quarter of 2021.