A GE executive said 1,500 layoffs are planned.

George Cox, a senior vice president of General Electric, said the job cuts at GE’s Schenectady, N.Y., turbine division will come through a combination of layoffs, early retirement incentives and attrition. Cox blamed a reduced demand for electricity, difficulty in securing permits for power-generating facilities and foreign competition for what he termed a “free-fall” in the number of turbine orders at GE.