GE’s 12,000 Job Cuts Highlight Uneasy Shift to Renewable Energy

After spending years building up its gas-power business, General Electric Co. is trying to figure out how to keep pace in a world that’s no longer all that interested in fossil fuels.

The plan to cut 12,000 jobs, or almost one-fifth of the power division’s global workforce, underscores GE’s bad bet on an old-school industry as natural gas loses favor and renewable energy gains. The company’s $10 billion deal to buy Alstom SA’s assets two years ago has compounded the pain.

“They clearly misjudged the shift that’s going on in the market,” said Jeff Sprague, an analyst with Vertical Research ...