Boeing to cut thousands of jobs in the US
Aircraft maker Boeing is planning to cut up to 10 per cent of its workforce as competition in the industry heats up.
In a statement today, the company will cut as many as 4,000 jobs by the middle of this year, all of which will go through attrition, leaving open positions unfilled, and voluntary redundancies.
Most of the jobs will be workers at its base near Seattle, with hundreds of executives and managers expected to be included in the layoffs.
"We continue to follow our plan announced last month to make fundamental changes for the long term to win in the market, fund our growth and operate as a healthy business," said the company.
"That involves a combination of non-labour cost savings, supply chain savings, and reduced staffing levels. While there is no employment reduction target, the more we can control costs as a whole– the less impact there will be to employment."
It added that it had doubled its UK workforce over the past five years, and was expected to continue growing.
Boeing is one of the world's largest aircraft makers, with a 57 per cent share of the market by units ordered.
In January its shares fell as much as 10 per cent after it reported a four per cent drop in revenues during the final quarter of 2015, which it blamed partly on a "slow recovery in the air cargo market".
Earlier that month, it admitted it had cut the production of 747-8 cargo planes, saying the air cargo market recovery had stalled.
"While we remain confident in the 747-8's unique value-proposition, we're taking the prudent step to further align production with current market requirements," said Ray Conner, vice chairman, president and chief executive of Boeing's commercial division.