General Electric is cutting as many as 13,000 jobs in its jet engine business after the COVID-19 pandemic brought devastation to the aerospace industry.

GE Aviation announced plans to expedite its cost-cutting efforts by economizing its global workforce by  25 percent this year through a mix of layoffs and voluntary actions. This includes the previously announced plan to cut 10 percent of GE Aviation's US workforce.

The moves are designed to cope with an "unprecedented" and "deep contraction" of the commercial aviation business, the company said.

GE Aviation said the job cuts will help the company save $1 billion. The job cuts will apply to salaried and hourly workers around the world over the coming months.

GE Aviation CEO David Joyce wrote in a memo to employees, “While extremely difficult, I am confident this is the required response to the continued contraction of the industry and its protracted recovery." He further said, "I am equally confident that the industry will recover over time and that we will be positioned to win."

Earlier in March, the company signaled cutting ten percent of its US workforce, or about 2,600 employees. The company also said it would furlough about half of its US maintenance, repair, overhaul, and new engine manufacturing workers.

GE is for the first time detailing the impact on its global workforce, which totaled about 52,000 at the end of 2019. The company has also lowered the headcount at its power division by 700 during the first quarter and implemented a hiring freeze.

The news comes as the United States braces for a historic spike in unemployment. The government jobs report set to be released Friday is expected to show the unemployment rate surged to 16.1 percent in April, the highest level since 1939.