Boeing will be cutting nearly 10,000 jobs in Washington

In a letter sent to employees on Wednesday, Boeing President and CEO Dave Calhoun announced that the company will be starting involuntary layoffs (ILO) after concluding their voluntary buyout program that eliminated 5,500 workers.

The Washington-based company is planning on lowering their number of employees by roughly 10% due to the pandemic lowering the need for commercial jets and services over the next few years, “which in turn means fewer jobs on our lines and offices.”

Boeing will be notifying the first 6,770 of their US team members this week, and will be providing “all the support we can to those of you impacted by the ILOs, including severance pay, COBRA health care coverage for US employees, and career transition services.”

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Overall, the combination of buyouts and involuntary layoffs will mean a cut of 12,270 jobs, 9,840 of them being Washington staff.

“I wish there was some other way,” Calhoun added.

Calhoun ended his letter with some positive news, mentioning that the company is moving forward with their plans to restart the 737 MAX production in Renton, as their Global Services team is working to ensure that it’s focusing on the post-coronavirus needs of customers.

“Our industry will come back, but it will take some years to return to what it was just two months ago,” said Calhoun. “Let’s work together to ensure that we are those things. For our future. For each other. For everyone who counts on us.”