Boeing’s layoffs have kicked off nationwide, with 396 employees being laid off in Washington. The Boeing job cuts will eliminate a total of 2,199 workers in the state, where over 60,000 employees are currently employed. Boeing’s workforce reduction efforts have also begun in California, where around 500 workers are expected to face termination for now.

The company’s financial woes have depicted one of the most significant business collapses we’ve witnessed this year, but it has made an active effort to turn things around and bring the organization’s prospects back under control. The immediate goal for the company is to bring its 737 MAX productions back on track after large-scale protests had nearly halted all progress on meeting delivery targets for the machine.

Image Credit: CEO Kelly Ortberg by Boeing on Twitter/X

Boeing Layoffs Begin Nationwide as the Company Attempts to Stabilize Itself

The aerospace giant has a target of cutting 10% of its global workforce in the coming months, which is expected to impact over 17,000 jobs. Boeing’s workforce reduction in 2024 will be small considering we only have a few weeks left in the year, but the cuts will pick up pace later into 2025. Around 2,200 workers received the Boeing WARN notices regarding the layoffs earlier in November and more employees have now been alerted to cuts regarding their jobs. 

Almost 400 employees have been notified about the job cut in Washington state and another 500 in California. The numbers include 115 job cuts in Long Beach and 144 in El Segundo. There is also evidence of another 179 cuts at two Seal Beach facilities, 57 cuts at a facility in Huntington Beach, and a combined 38 cuts at other cities.

According to the Long Beach Watchdog, all affected workers will have a two-month notice period on the job and eligible workers will be provided with severance pay and three months of subsidized healthcare. Those affected by the Boeing job cuts will also receive career transition assistance in searching for their next source of employment. 

“Much has been written about how we got to where we are, but most also recognize that Boeing was once a benchmark for what good culture looks like. And I believe we can return to that legacy. I know culture change starts at the top. Our leaders, from me on down, need to be closely integrated with our business and the people who are doing the design and production of our products,”  CEO Kelly Ortberg said with the Q3 2024 results.

It Has Been a Difficult Year for Boeing and Its Workers

The company-wide Boeing job cuts do not come as a surprise as we spent the majority of October and November observing the organization’s financial situation unravel. The U.S. plane maker has been embroiled in controversy this year over faulty planes and lapses in safety measures, all of which drew scrutiny from both the government and the public in equal measure. 

The company had already begun facing production delays and narrowing profit margins, but matters were made worse when it was unable to establish a satisfactory contract with its union workers. Over 33,000 U.S. West Coast workers went on a seven-week strike that finally ended on November 5. The union workers were eventually satisfied with the contract offered by Boeing and 59% of them voted to approve the 38% pay raise deal. 

Outsiders have blamed the union strikes as the main cause for the financial struggles and job cuts at Boeing, but CEO Kelly Ortberg has reiterated that the layoffs were the result of an overstaffing issue and not the strike. 

We need to be on the factory floors, in the back shops, and in our engineering labs. We need to know what’s going on, not only with our products but with our people. And most importantly, we need to prevent the festering of issues and work better together to identify, fix, and understand the root cause. 

I’ve already introduced a much more detailed business cadence to drive this across the organization and this process of change is underway. Culture is driven by values, and we’ll redefine those for the company together.

—Kelly Ortberg, President and Chief Executive Officer, The Boeing Company

With the Boeing layoffs proceeding nationwide, the planemaker appears to be gearing up for a year of more tough calls and critical business decisions that will determine the future of the organization. 

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