GE's Jeffrey Immelt: "Our employees basically like us"

In his 10 years as CEO, Jeff Immelt has remade GE, selling off half the company he inherited

/ CBS

In his New York Times blog, "Conscience of a Liberal," economist Paul Krugman takes a shot at Jeffrey Immelt, the CEO of GE and head of President Obama's Council on Jobs and Competitiveness. He cites comments made during a "60 Minutes" interview as an example of "awesome cluelessness." 

The Immelt vs. Krugman run-in is an example of the ideological differences that are playing out in the Occupy Wall Street protests across the country.

"I want you to root for me. You know, everybody in Germany roots for Siemens. Everybody in Japan roots for Toshiba. Everybody in China roots for China South Rail. I want you to say, 'Win, G.E.,'" Immelt told "60 Minutes" correspondent Lesley Stahl.

Krugman questioned whether Americans and Immelt's U.S. employees should be rooting for GE.

"...GE isn't in any important sense an 'American' company. More than half its employees are overseas. I'm sure Immelt would claim that this is just what he needs to do to compete; but in that case, he can't have it both ways and also demand that we cheer for GE as an American champion," Krugman wrote.

Stahl asked Immelt about negative public sentiment toward corporations. "I think this notion that it's the population of the U.S. against the big companies is just wrong. It's just wrong-minded and when I walk through a factory with you or anybody, you know, our employees basically like us," he responded. "They root for us, they want us to win. I don't know why you don't."

While Immelt said his employees should root for the company, he meant not just those in the U.S.  "I'm a complete globalist. I think like a global CEO. But I'm an American. I run an American company. But in order for GE to be successful in the coming years, I've gotta sell my products in every corner of the world," he told Stahl.

"If I wasn't out chasing orders in every corner of the world, we'd have tens of thousand fewer employees in Pennsylvania, Ohio, Massachusetts, Texas," Immelt added. "I'm never going to apologize for that, ever, ever."

The majority of growth for GE is happening outside the U.S., and 60 percent of revenue comes from overseas, Immelt said. 

In his blog, Krugman offered a chart showing how GE's corporate profits have risen spectacularly, while GE employee wages have risen only slightly in the last decade.

Immelt said he is adding 15,000 jobs in the U.S., but many are $13 per hour jobs. "We have a range. When we go out and recruit, let's say hire 1,000 people at between $15 and $17 an hour, we get 50,000 applicants. So I think you've gotta start somewhere and ...but we want to hire more people," Immelt said.

Ultimately, Immelt said he is beholden to shareholders, not the country or employees. "My name is not above the door. I work for investors. Investors want to see us grow earnings and cash flow. They want to see us be competitive. They want to see us prosper," Immelt said.

In the meantime, protesters are continuing their Occupy Wall Street vigils across the country, questioning just how motivated corporations are to win for America and job creation, and how dedicated the people in Congress and the White House are to resolving their differences on how to restart the economy.

[ghostsouls]

Pack all your crap, stay over there and never come back, you give more jobs to foreigners than to your own people, and you are suppose to be obama's job czar...what a crock of crap!

[poolshark_333]

Actually, I have worked at GE for over 30 years. Jack Welch was a terrific leader for the times he was CEO. Jeff Immelt is now the right leader for the "times". I am one of many in the USA that basically admire Jeff's courage and convictions. No, I'm not HR, a manager... nor Jeff ;-) Jeff is creating new jobs and new businesses in the USA. We export Healthcare Diagnostic Equipment (CT, Xray, MR etc), Locomotives, Gas Turbines, Jet Engines etc made in the USA to the rest of the world

[netjunkie1]

It's basiclly the 2 million American people he shut out that hates him for sending those jobs elsewhere...along with the jobs that are tied to them.

[ghostsouls]

He is obama's job czar, and right after taking that position, he freeloads and escapes paying his fair share of GE's taxes then takes a company overseas instead of keeping it here and hiring Americans, Job czars should be making jobs, FOR US! Immelt is a backstabbing traitor to his country. He needs to pack his crap, move over there permanently and never set foot on OUR soil again.

[mondovibe]

I can only think Obama positioned, whom was available, to help clean up the decades of outsourced, offshored, off budget WAR, defunded mess, these multinational corporatists left US in, created by blatantly holding investor profiteering supreme, regardless of generational socialized cost & fallout to masses of people/environment...like Mandela did, portrayed in the story of Invictus, struggling to lead regressives and progressives to work together for solutions, ironically the movie was directed by Eastwood.

[zebra8835]

Which employee groups "basically" like G.E. the best? The Chinese workers or the Mexican workers?

[netjunkie1]

The Brazilians...ever had one?

[mstsc55]

If this guy actually cared he would cut his base salary from $ 33 million a year to $ 3 million and use the rest to boost employee salaries.

He makes like what... 660 times more at least than the average American salary.

Gimmee a break...no one is worth that much.

[kc1964kc]

As George Carlin said, "These people (immelt) don't give a damn about you." You are not part of their club and you never will be.'

thecrowhouse dot com

These people, the Oligarchy are all psychopaths who need disentangled from all our lives. They have had power and money for far too long. We need not argue nor harm them, but disempower them with understanding and compassion...like Gandhi did...Quit India.

[viewupclose]

It is the Wall Street, "Greed is good" contingent that taught investors they are Entitled to unlimited profits versus profits.

[viewupclose]

And your employees are just thankful to have work at all.

[viewupclose]

Sure sell to the world, but if you're really an American company, have your goods manufactured in America. See the difference, Jeff, between that and what you said?

Get real. There is no corporate America as we once knew it anymore and this sort of drivel is just more sweet-talking us out of our own livelihoods and the economic futures, health, and well-being of our children and grandchildren.

[tudognight]

Heck yes....GE gave us Regan. And what is goof for General Motors is good for America from the 70's. As long as GE hires lots of
Americans to good paying jobs they are loved....but if they fall to the investors wins to support overseas companies instead, they will go the way of GM when they asked for a bail out. According to the Tea Party Republicans....the investors who run wall street are the folks the Americans should love....they create jobs (mostly overseas...but do not tell the fools)as they are the "Job Creators"