Boeing layoffs will include nearly 2,200 workers in Washington

By Bill Lucia / Washington State Standard

Boeing’s planned job cuts will include 2,199 layoffs in Washington, according to a notice issued Monday by the state’s Employment Security Department.

The Society of Professional Engineering Employees in Aerospace, a union that represents engineers, scientists, technical workers and pilots, said the company told them that 438 of their members received layoff notices last week.

“That’s about 2.5% of our total membership at Boeing,” Bryan Corliss, a spokesperson for the union, said in an email.

Those affected include 218 SPEEA members of the union’s professional unit, which is made up of engineers and scientists, and 220 of the technical unit, which covers analysts, planners, and technicians, Corliss said.

SPEEA represents about 17,000 workers at Boeing in Washington, Oregon, California and Utah.

Boeing has about 66,000 employees in Washington.

“We’re not breaking down the types of workers or by geography/facility,” Bobbie Egan, a company spokesperson, said in an emailed response to questions asking for more details about the job cuts. “The layoffs are across Boeing.”

The company announced in early October it would cut about 17,000 employees, 10% of its workforce. Boeing has previously indicated that the cuts would be company-wide and would involve executives, managers and other employees.

Under a new CEO, Kelly Ortberg, the company is trying to regain its financial footing. Last month, Boeing reported a $6 billion quarterly loss and it has piled up billions in debt.

Deadly airliner crashes in 2018 and 2019 and an incident earlier this year where a door panel blew out of a plane led to scrutiny of the company’s safety culture. Meanwhile, a program to manufacture the 777X passenger plane, made in Everett, is years behind schedule.

Layoff notices are going out in the wake of a strike by about 33,000 Boeing aircraft machinists in the Puget Sound region and other West Coast states that lasted nearly two months.

Members of the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers voted to approve a contract Nov. 4, ending the strike. Union members were due back at work by Nov. 12.

A spokesperson for IAM 751, which represents Boeing machinists in Washington, said Monday that the union did not have any information about layoffs affecting its members and directed questions to the company.

Boeing’s workforce reductions include layoffs, leaving unfilled jobs open, and concentrating backfill hiring on positions tied to “business-critical priorities,” the company has said.

In a statement shared Monday, the company reiterated that it is “adjusting our workforce levels to align with our financial reality and a more focused set of priorities. We are committed to ensuring our employees have support during this challenging time.”

Boeing said most employees who were notified in recent days that they would be laid off will exit the company in mid-January. The company also said workers will receive severance pay, career transition services and subsidized health care benefits for up to three months after leaving.

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