Boeing to lay off 64 security workers in Puget Sound region

The Boeing Co. plans to cut the number of employees who work in security around the Puget Sound region.

“We are making a transition in the Northwest to make security line up with what we do elsewhere,” said Dean Tougas, a spokesman for Boeing.

At other locations across the country, Boeing has hired private security companies to provide services. That’s what Boeing plans to transition to here in Washington state.

Boeing has notified 64 security employees of its plan. Those workers will receive formal layoff notices in mid-August, Tougas said.

Another 146 security workers, who were hired on at Boeing before November 2006, have a labor contract with the company through the Security, Police, Fire Professionals of America union through 2017. Their positions will not be affected.

However, Boeing will evaluate its options on security leading up to 2017, Tougas said.

The private security company will begin work in October at Boeing’s Auburn, Frederickson, Bellevue and Renton locations.

Already this year, Boeing has made several layoff announcements including engineering workers and assembly workers. Those layoffs were part of the company’s overall plan to reduce its workforce in the region by as many as 2,300 employees by year’s end. The cut to Boeing’s security workforce is not part of that plan, Tougas said.

At the end of June, Boeing employed 85,106 people in Washington state, according to the company’s website. That’s down from 86,480 workers at the end of 2012.