Over 2,500 Boeing employees will be let go in the US as part of massive layoffs

Boeing plans to lay off more than 2,500 employees across Washington, Oregon, South Carolina, and Missouri as part of efforts to reduce its global workforce by 17,000 jobs, roughly 10%, according to union sources and federally required filings released on Monday. Nearly 2,200 of these layoffs will affect workers in Washington, with an additional 220 impacted in South Carolina, both major sites for Boeing’s commercial aircraft production. The company declined to comment on these layoffs when contacted.

Notices were distributed starting Wednesday, informing affected workers that they will remain on Boeing's payroll until January 17, in compliance with federal regulations that mandate a 60-day notice period before termination. Another round of layoff notifications is expected in December. Boeing may also consider strategies such as workforce attrition, selective hiring, and selling certain subsidiaries to meet its job reduction targets.

Boeing's stock price rose 2.6% on Monday, closing at $143.87. In a statement made in October, the company's new CEO, Kelly Ortberg, indicated that Boeing does not plan to remove personnel from production lines or engineering labs. Observers of the aerospace industry have been closely monitoring these WARN notices to gauge the potential impact on key manufacturing operations.

Several hundred employees, including engineers and production staff, have already received layoff notices. The Society of Professional Engineering Employees in Aerospace reported that 438 of its members were affected, including 218 engineers and 220 technicians. Meanwhile, the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers (IAM) District Lodge 837 in St. Louis confirmed that 111 members, mainly involved in producing 777X wing components, received notices.

Layoffs appear to vary across different departments at Boeing. Non-union employees shared that some smaller teams were significantly affected, with one engineer from the Boeing Defense, Space & Security unit noting that nearly their entire 12-person team was let go, while another reported being the sole recipient of a layoff notice from her 20-person team. Both described providing essential support for production and design engineering but not being categorized as direct production staff.

These layoffs coincide with Boeing's efforts to resume production of its 737 MAX following a lengthy strike by more than 33,000 U.S. West Coast workers that temporarily halted commercial jet output.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Paraphrasing text from "Reuters" all rights reserved by the original author.