Aircraft giant Boeing announced on Friday that it will cut 10% of its workforce and reduce production in the coming months amid major financial problems and an ongoing strike.
Boeing, which has faced a series of major aircraft failures including a blown-off door on an Alaska Airlines plane in January, Significant losses were recorded In the third quarter of 2024.
“Our business is in a difficult situation, and it is difficult to overstate the challenges we face together,” Boeing CEO Kelly Ortberg said in a memo to employees Friday obtained by Boeing. CNN. “Recovering our company will require difficult decisions and we will have to make structural changes to ensure we can maintain our competitive edge.”
Ortberg, who took over in August after C.E.O Dave Calhoun He left amid intense regulatory pressure. He did not specify the exact number of layoffs that would occur, but noted that workers at all levels of the business could expect details next week.
More than 33,000 Boeing workers voted overwhelmingly in favor of the resolution Permission to strike last month. Nearly 20% of Boeing’s workforce was suddenly on the picket line. their union, International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers, They cited stagnant wages, safety issues and unfair labor practices as reasons to stop working.
Talks between Boeing and IAM reportedly broke down earlier this week, and Boeing Withdrew its last offer To the union. The work stoppage was cited in a press release as a factor in the layoffs, delays and termination of production of several Boeing aircraft.
Representatives of other Boeing employee unions were disappointed by the news of the layoffs, and the company blamed the striking workers, not management errors.
“Rather than resolve the IAM strike and focus company resources on rebuilding regulators and customer confidence, Boeing leadership decided to damage every aspect of the company,” Ray Goforth, director of the Society of Aerospace Professional Engineering Employees, said in a statement. Seattle Times.
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