8th September, 2015
Seun Bisuga
In a bid to make General Electric (GE) Nigeria a wholly Nigerian company, the management of the organisation has revealed that Nigerians make up at least 85 per cent of its workforce.
A tour by journalists to Onne Port in Rivers State showed that Nigerians accounted for most of the operational and management staff at the leading company in appliances, oil and gas, power, etc.
According to GE report, Nigerians account for 70 per cent of the executives within GE Nigeria and 80 per cent of mid-level managers.
“GE in Nigeria has more than 85 per cent of our leadership team as Nigerians. All the engineers and technicians that are involved in the fabrication are Nigerians, who have been trained within and outside the country,” Uzochi Nwagwu, General Electric’s Chief Operating Officer, West Africa said.
The goal of GE in Nigeria is to drive local operation, develop and leverage local supply chain, create long term job opportunities and support communities.
To achieve the above, GE is using Nigerians to reach Nigeria and has spent millions of dollars developing young Nigerian graduates in Brazil, UK and other countries across the globe.
In 2013, the electric company spent $2.1million in training 14 graduates engineers for a 24-month subsea based training program. The graduate engineers have all been employed as GE full time staff.
Similarly, in 2014, $3.6million was spent on 15 graduate trainees. The team consist of three manufacturing engineers and 12 technicians.
In reaction to GE’s employment drive and Nigerianisation, Nwagwu said: “We are dedicated to employing Nigerian graduates and giving them the best training anywhere in the world as we move towards a wholly Nigerian firm,” he noted.
GE is the world’s leading company in appliances, power and water, oil and gas has a history with Nigeria since the 1930’s and is geared towards making the company’s on and off field operations fully managed by Nigerians.