Boeing to begin involuntary layoffs

Listen to this article

Boeing is beginning involuntary layoffs this week as part of the workforce reduction that the company announced last month.

The first involuntary layoff notifications will be delivered this week to about 6,770 U.S. employees. This is in addition to approximately 5,520 employees who have been approved for voluntary layoff and will leave Boeing in the next several weeks.

“For those of you who are notified, I want to offer my personal gratitude for the contributions you have made to Boeing, and I wish you and your families the very best,” President and CEO Dave Calhoun said in a message sent to all Boeing employees.

Laid-off employees will receive severance pay and access to career transition services.

Boeing has not released the number of layoffs by site, but South Carolina is included in the totals.

A company representative said that several thousand more layoffs will come over the next few months until Boeing reaches its 10% workforce reduction but that this is the largest segment of layoffs.

Calhoun said he sees some signs of optimism — some Boeing customers are reporting that reservations are now outpacing cancellations and the company’s defense and space sectors are stable — but that doesn’t mean the global health and economic crisis is over.

“Our industry will come back, but it will take some years to return to what it was just two months ago,” he said.