After weeks of strikes over wage increases, the Boeing company plans to lay off numerous employees as announced. Another wave of layoffs is expected in December. Boeing is not currently on a high. The US aircraft manufacturer has been doing better in the past.
The struggling US aircraft manufacturer Boeing apparently wants to lay off more than 2,500 employees in the USA. Locations in the states of Washington, Oregon, South Carolina and Missouri are affected, according to a statement on Monday and according to a union representative. In Washington, almost 2,200 employees were laid off, while 220 employees in South Carolina are affected. Both states are important locations for the production of Boeing’s commercial aircraft. In the month of December, an additional phase of layoffs is anticipated. The Airbus rival is in crisis due to serious quality defects, among other things. Boeing initially declined a request for comment from the Reuters news agency.
Production workers also laid off
The news of the impending dispatch of the so-called Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification (WARN) was largely expected in connection with the announced cuts of a total of 17,000 jobs, or ten percent of the global workforce. Contrary to previous statements by CEO Kelly Ortberg, production employees were also laid off. 438 members, including 218 engineers and 220 technicians, were fired off, according to the SPEEA union. The IAM claims that 111 workers also had let go from the 777X wing production.
The job cuts come at a time when the Airbus rival is trying to restart production of its best-selling 737 MAX. A weeks-long strike by more than 33,000 workers had paralyzed production of most of its commercial aircraft. Boeing shares rose 2.6 percent on Monday. (Reuters, November 19, 2024)