SEATTLE – The Boeing Co., which cut its Washington state work force by 27,000 after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, has been quietly adding personnel in its Puget Sound operations.
The Chicago-based aerospace giant now has 55,209 workers in Washington, 1,676 more than at the start of the year, according to employment numbers posted on the company Web site Dec. 2.
The local work force grew by 497 jobs over the past month and has had a net gain every month for the past six months. The low point was 52,763 workers reported June 3.
Boeing said in July that it expected to add 2,000 to 3,000 jobs by the end of the year, “and we’re right on track with that,” spokesman Chris Villiers said.
The hires so far are roughly split between machinist jobs and engineering and technical positions, he said.
Boeing had 80,000 workers in Washington on Sept. 6, 2001. One week after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, the company announced plans to lay off as much as 30 percent of its Commercial Airplanes workers.
Boeing moved its headquarters from Seattle to Chicago in September 2001. Worldwide, it employed 199,000 people just before the attacks.
On Jan. 2 of this year, Boeing employed 157,518 workers worldwide. It now has 159,444, up 1,926. All but 250 of those new jobs are in the Puget Sound area, from Frederickson, just south of Tacoma, to Everett.
Many of the new jobs are technical and engineering positions, company spokeswoman Barbara Murphy said. Boeing began adding workers to fill “critical skill” positions at its Integrated Defense Systems and PhantomWorks units last year, she said.
The company’s St. Louis-based defense operation has facilities in Kent and at its Developmental Center in south Seattle. PhantomWorks, essentially Boeing’s research-and-development arm, is also based in south Seattle.
In July, Boeing announced plans to add workers in its Renton-based Commercial Airplanes division – primarily to work on its new 7E7 Dreamliner passenger jet, which will be built in Everett, and on its 737 multimission maritime aircraft for the U.S. Navy, being built in Renton.
Many of the positions added recently for military work required both specific skills and security clearance.
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