GE Oil and Gas is closings a facility in Oshkosh, eliminating 112 jobs by the end of 2011, the Oshkosh Northwestern reports. Twenty-nine employees will be eligible to relocate to Houston, Texas. The closure is a result of reduced demand for the company's products, according to GE Oil and Gas Human Resources Leader for North America Jim Mutsch.

"Strategically, we will be leveraging existing GE Oil and Gas domestic and global capacity to absorb demand for the products," Mutsch said in a statement. "The proposed closing is subject to discussions with officials of the IAM Lodge Local 1947 which represents production employees at the plant. A final decision on the proposed action will be made following those discussions."

GE Oil and Gas has headquarters in Florence, Italy. It opened the Oshkosh facility in 2002. It reached peak employment of 350 people in 2006. It currently employs 147 workers.

"It's disappointing, especially at this time of year when we've got Christmas coming up in five or six weeks," said Oshkosh Mayor Paul Esslinger. "These are awesome-paying jobs which means less money is going into our economy."