RENTON, Wash. — Boeing announced a significant reduction in its workforce, with 10% of its employees set to receive layoff notices. This move affects approximately 17,000 workers across the United States.
The layoffs will impact various sectors within the company, likely including machinists who recently agreed to a new labor contract featuring a 38% pay increase over four years.
Boeing's CEO Kelly Ortberg said the decision to lay off employees comes from the company's $25 billion in losses over the past five years.
The losses are partially attributed to the fatal crashes of the MAX jets in 2018 and 2019, and a door plug blowout over Oregon earlier this year.
"As far as I know, everyone is remaining hopeful on it, so everyone is hoping it doesn’t hit the blue-collar sector because two months out of work, people have to make up for loss time,” said Seth Soriano, a current Boeing employee.
The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has limited Boeing's production capacity, and employees said that has led to a surplus in some positions.
"The state the business is in, we have to reduce headcount to deal with the reality we're currently in," said Boeing employee Brian Ball. "It's tough. It's hard on everybody."
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