One of our region’s largest employers, Boeing, is starting to send out layoff notices today.
Workers who build aircraft are not expected to be cut, according to CEO Kelly Ortberg. Employees in the Machinists Union returned to work Tuesday after a seven-week strike, and Boeing needs to start delivering airplanes again.
Ortberg said in news release dated Oct. 11 that the company would reduce the size of its total workforce by about 10% — about 17,000 employees — and include executives, managers, and other employees working in non-essential parts of the business.
The cuts come after the company lost billions in revenue over the last five years.
KIRO 7 reporter Ranji Sinha spoke with aviation industry analyst Scott Hamilton who said Boeing hired a lot of people following the pandemic in the belief that production would bounce back, but that didn’t happen.
“It’s been my view across many years that Boeing Commercial Airplanes has been a bloated organization with what I call dead wood. Of course, that means there are just people there that may not be as efficient or skilled as many other workers, and they should probably be let go anyway,” said Hamilton.
Production is expected to ramp up slowly.
The Seattle Times reports the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) told Boeing that aircraft production must be careful and methodical to maintain safety and quality, and some newer hires will need retraining.
The layoff notices are expected to go out through Friday.