GE Appliances laying off some salaried workers in Louisville

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- GE Appliances is laying off workers in Louisville.

The layoffs only impact salaried workers, not production workers.

Appliance Park has 8,300 workers and about 2,700 are salaried. But the company hasn't said how many workers in Louisville are losing their jobs. A request for an interview and more specifics about the exact number of local layoffs was denied.

Globally, GE Appliances will lay off 4% of its salaried employees. Company officials said mortgage interest rates and inflation are to blame for the appliance industry being down 4%.

Bellarmine economics professor Francis Raymond said many people are still locked in to the 2% and 3% interest rates from a few years ago and are less likely to sell their homes, which does have an impact on things like appliances.

"When interest rates go up, you'd expect it to have a dramatic effect on the housing market because it does increase the cost of borrowing and makes it much more difficult for individuals to afford a house of a give size or in a given neighborhood. And, as a result, you generally have people buying fewer homes. That means fewer refrigerators are being sold, fewer kitchens, potentially bedrooms and bathrooms are getting remodeled and so you do see this downward trend in spending in the housing market as a result of higher interest rates," said Raymond.

He shared his initial reaction to the layoffs announced at GE Appliances: "It's not surprising given that interest rates have gone up. What's more surprising is the fact that things like this haven't happened sooner."

Workers were notified of the layoffs on Thursday. They will get a 30-day notice of separation, as well as up to six moths of severance and medical coverage.

General Electric sold the appliance division to China-based appliance manufacturer Haier in 2016.

Greater Louisville, Inc. spokesperson Olivia Sievert Olson said GE Appliances is one of the region's biggest employers, according to Louisville Business First's Book of Lists.

1. UPS – 26,328 FTE employees

2. Norton Healthcare – 15,044 FTE employees

3. JCPS – 14,000 FTE employees

4. UofL Health Inc. – 13,136 FTE employees

5. Ford Motor Co. – 13,020 FTE employees

6. Humana Inc. – 11,000 FTE employees

7. Baptist Healthcare Systems Inc. – 8,657 FTE employees

8. Walmart Inc. – 8,550 FTE employees

9. GE Appliances, a Haier Company – 8,500 FTE employees

10. The Kroger Co. – 7,000 FTE employees

The region includes Jefferson, Bullitt, Henry, Nelson, Oldham, Shelby and Spencer counties in Kentucky and Clark, Floyd, Harrison and Washington counties in Indiana.

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