General Electric
Headquarters: 41 Farnsworth St.
Boston, MA 02210
Employees: 283,000
CEO: Lawrence Culp
Website: http://www.ge.com
Stock Symbol: GE
Career Page
General Electric is one of the world's largest and best known companies. It operates a broad range of businesses from energy systems, aviation engines, and power systems.
GE operates in more than 100 countries and employs over 300,000 people worldwide.
GE practices a philosophy known as Six Sigma to ensure quality. It is a highly disciplined process that helps the company focus on developing and delivering near-perfect products and services.
The company moved its headquarters from Fairfield, CT to Boston in 2016.
GE's Research and Development headquarters is located in Niskayuna, NY.
GE has seen its financial performance decline over the past few years. It was removed from the Dow Jones Industrial Average of 30 stocks in 2018 and replaced by Walgreens Boots Alliance. GE had been the only company listed in the Dow Jones Industrial Index that was also included in the original index in 1896.
Lawrence Culp was named CEO of the company in October 2018.
In 2018, total revenues for GE were $121.6 billion, a 3% increase. The company reported a net loss of $22.4 billion.
History
The Company first originated with inventor Thomas Alva Edison, who established Edison Electric Light Company in 1878. Edison was one of the greatest inventors in history and credited with inventing the incandescent light bulb, the mimeograph and phonograph.
Edison patented over 1,000 inventions, earning him the nickname "The Wizard of Menlo Park," since he worked from his lab in Menlo Park, NJ. Edison believed in hard work and put in almost 20 hour days. He died in 1931.
In 1892, a merger of Edison General Electric Company and Thomson-Houston Electric Company created General Electric Company. That year, the company employed 10,000 people and had $20 million in sales.
General Electric purchased RCA, which also owned the NBC television network, in 1985 for $6.3 billion.
GE attempted to acquire Honeywell in 2001 but was blocked due to anti-trust concerns by European regulators.
GE acquired The Weather Channel cable network in 2008 and its websites for $3.5 billion from Landmark Communications.
GE spun off and sold NBCUniversal to Comcast in March 2013 for $16.7 billion. NBCUniversal also purchased drom GE the properties used by NBCUniversal at 30 Rockefeller Plaza and CNBC's headquarters in Englewood Cliffs, NJ for approximately $1.4 billion.
GE spun off Synchrony Financial in July 2014 as a separately-traded company with its own stock.
GE sold its appliances division to Chinese conglomerate Haier in 2015. The GE name is still licensed to appliances by not made by the company.
in February 2019, GE completed its spinoff of Transportation business with Webtec Corporation. The company is also selling off its BioPharma business to Danaher for $21 billion.
Benefits
GE has locations around the world. It operates a famed executive training facility in Crotonville, NY and research and development center in Niskayuna, NY.
Benefits can vary by location and division. GE offers workers health and dental insurance, life insurance and personal accident coverage. Vision care is also covered.
GE offers an employee savings plan where workers can contribute 1 to 17% of pay. The company adds 50 cents per dollar contributed up to the first 7%. This amount vests immediately.
GE's pension plan vests after 5 years service. Employees contribute 3% of annual pay over $37,500.
Most employees receive 11 paid holidays per year. Vacation time varies with length of service.
Employees get substantial discounts on GE products, including refrigerators, washers and dryers and air conditioners. They can buy GE products through the GE Appliance Store where they can purchase products directly and save on average 20% off typical retail prices.
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