Renton, Washington – Thousands of union workers at Boeing are expecting layoffs.
Although the first round of job reductions were 2,500 voluntary layoffs and buyouts, the company is now planning almost 7,000 jobs to be reduced this June. It’s expected that Boeing will be facing a radical downsizing. This includes 10 percent of its 160, 000 employees with 20 percent staff cuts in Washington and California. According to the Seattle Times, 9,840 Boeing jobs will be lost before July 31.
“The COVID-19 pandemic’s devastating impact on the airline industry means a deep cut in the number of commercial jets and services our customers will need over the next few years, which in turn means fewer jobs on our lines and in our offices. We have done our very best to project the needs of our commercial airline customers over the next several years as they begin their path to recovery,” Boeing CEO Dave Calhoun said in a news release.
Boeing has experienced a perfect storm. A COVID-19 crisis causing a drastic commercial air travel slowdown. Possible faulty engineering systems that were blamed for two plane crashes. And now the country rapidly moving toward a severe recession.
