GE to Shut Lighting Plants, Cut Up To 1,400 Jobs

General Electric said Thursday it will close a number of lighting plants in Brazil and the U.S., as part of a plan to restructure its consumer and industrial division, potentially cutting more than 1,400 jobs in the process.

The Louisville-based GE Consumer & Industrial division said it will close all of its lighting operations in Rio de Janeiro, which will affect about 900 jobs. The company also plans to close some lighting factories in the U.S., which will impact about 425 jobs.

"A portion" of the U.S. jobs will be transferred to other GE lighting facilities, the company added.

Another 80 jobs will be affected by a transfer of some operations from facilities in Mexico and the U.S. to other locations.

GE said it is closing the facilities, in part, because of a changing lighting market, in which demand for the incandescent bulb has declined over the past five years -- but is now increasing due to new technology and efficiency standards.

The company also said it can now buy some of the components it needs to produce bulbs at more competitive costs than making them.