The troubled plane maker is cutting thousands of jobs following a costly machinists strike
As Boeing $BA (BA) makes good on its promise to trim its workforce by 10%, the reality of those job cuts continues to become clearer. A layoff notice issued in Washington state shows that 2,000 workers in the area alone will be losing their jobs — with those cuts being made effective the week before Christmas.
Under the federal Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification (WARN) Act, companies of a certain size are required to publicly announce when they plan to enact layoffs of a certain size. A WARN Act notification published by Boeing Friday says that 2,000 employees in Washington state will be losing their jobs soon and the effective date of those firings will be December 20, the last day before many Seattle-area public schools begin their winter breaks.
When Boeing first announced its efforts to reduce its headcount, it tied the move on “near-term challenges” tied to a weeks-long strike by its machinists. But the company has also been trying to figure out a way forward through the crisis before that one: a government-mandated slowdown in production for its cash-cow 737 Max planes following a 737 Max 9 door plug blowout in January.
“We shared plans to reduce our workforce to align with our financial reality and a more focused set of priorities,” CEO Kelly Ortberg told investors during a recent earnings call. “We’re decisively implementing reductions to our discretionary spending across the company. As we move through this process, we’ll maintain our steadfast focus on safety, quality, and delivery for our customers.”
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