SEATTLE — Boeing revealed in a recent communication to Washington’s Employment Security Department that it has laid off 2,199 employees within the state as a part of broader job reductions expected to reach around 17,000 across the organization.
In October, the aerospace company announced its intention to cut approximately 10% of its workforce in the upcoming months, citing challenges in recovering from financial difficulties and regulatory issues, alongside a nearly two-month strike by its machinists.
The planned layoffs will affect staff at Boeing locations across the country, including states such as Washington, Missouri, Arizona, and South Carolina, as reported by The Seattle Times. The cuts seem to impact all three of Boeing’s divisions: commercial airplanes, defense, and global services.
Prior to the recent layoff notifications, Boeing employed around 66,000 individuals in Washington. Among the current layoffs are notices sent last week to over 400 members of Boeing’s professional aerospace labor union, the Society of Professional Engineering Employees in Aerospace (SPEEA), with these workers remaining on the payroll until mid-January.
Additionally, Boeing’s unionized machinists returned to work earlier this month following the end of the strike.
The strike significantly pressured Boeing’s finances; however, CEO Kelly Ortberg noted during an October analysts’ call that the layoffs were not directly a result of the strike but rather due to overstaffing issues.
Boeing, which is headquartered in Arlington, Virginia, has faced ongoing financial struggles following two fatal crashes of its 737 Max jetliner that occurred in 2018 and 2019, leading to the deaths of 346 people. The company’s financial status and reputation deteriorated further when an incident involving an Alaska Airlines flight occurred earlier this year, in which a panel detached from the aircraft’s fuselage.
With production levels severely reduced and the Federal Aviation Administration imposing a production limit of 38 planes per month for the 737 MAX, Boeing was unable to achieve this target, particularly when the machinists’ strike brought assembly lines to a halt.
