New Delhi New Delhi: Boeing Co. is scheduled to begin notifying employees on Wednesday as it moves forward with planned job cuts aimed at boosting efficiency, Bloomberg reports. The move represents a delicate balancing act for the company, which needs to streamline its workforce without losing the skilled talent it needs to ramp up production levels in the future. The company announced last month that it would cut 10% of its workforce, affecting about 17,000 jobs.
These cuts are intended to help Boeing regain its competitive edge as it faces a number of challenges, including lower production following a major incident in January and a nearly two-month strike that temporarily halted much of its production. However, Boeing risks compromising its recovery efforts if it cuts too much or from critical areas. Historically, manufacturers like Boeing could expect furloughed workers to eventually return, but pandemic-era layoffs led to a permanent exodus of skilled engineers and mechanics — a trend that could continue as labor options widen. With Seattle’s unemployment rate hovering around 4% and a booming aerospace job market, Boeing employees now have more career options than ever. The region’s growing space sector is particularly competitive for talent.
Companies like SpaceX, Blue Origin LLC and Amazon’s Project Kuiper are actively seeking new employees to help expand operations around Seattle, where Boeing produces most of its commercial jets, said Stan Shull, a space industry consultant at Alliance Velocity LLC. Opportunities include working with Elon Musk’s team on Starlink satellites, working with Jeff Bezos’ company on rockets, the space station and lunar landers. Shull estimates there are more than 1,350 jobs at more than 50 space companies in the Puget Sound region, ranging from engineering to administrative, sales and marketing positions.
