Boeing announces almost 2,200 layoffs at historic sites

NEW YORK: The US aviation giant Boeing sent out its first redundancy notifications on Monday as part of a previously announced plan to cut 10% of its global workforce.

Boeing intends to cut almost 2,200 jobs in the US state of Washington, which is home to many of its oldest factories, according to a statement made public on Monday.

Companies in the United States are required by law to submit a “WARN” notice (Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification) to local authorities sixty days before any layoffs.

In its notice, Boeing said it expects to start laying people off permanently starting Dec 20. 2,199 people will be affected.

The group has been plagued by production quality problems, and has just suffered a strike lasting more than 50 days that paralysed two crucial factories.

On Oct 12, it unveiled plans to reduce its global workforce by 10% over the coming months, without giving any further details.

Boeing’s employees numbered some 170,000 people at the end of last year, with close to 67,000 of them in Washington state, where the company was founded and where it produces its best-selling 737 line of aircraft, along with the 777, 767 and several military planes.

Its plants in Renton and Everett, located near Seattle, were recently blocked by a strike involving more than 33,000 members of the local branch of the International Association of Machinists (IAM), who were negotiating over pay and work conditions.

“As previously announced, we are adjusting our workforce levels to align with our financial reality and a more focused set of priorities,” a company spokesperson told AFP.

According to Boeing, most of the employees receiving redundancy notices this week will leave the company in mid-January. Benefits and health insurance will continue to be paid for up to three months after that.

The engineers’ union SPEEA (Society of Professional Engineering Employees in Aerospace) was notified on Thursday evening that 438 of its members were to be laid off, according to a spokesman.

It has more than 19,000 members across the United States, around 16,500 of whom work for Boeing.