Boeing Lays Off 2,199 Workers in Washington

A notice went out today from the Washington Employment Security Department’s WARN system, sharing that Boeing will permanently lay off 2,199 workers in Washington with the beginning date of separations to be December 20th, 2024.

It turns out the 10% layoff announcement in October wasn’t just a negotiation tactic. Boeing intends to lay off 10% of its workforce (about 17,000 employees), and pink slips started going out last Friday.

Before the layoff notices delivered last week, Boeing had 66,000 workers in Washington.

The cuts are not expected to hit members of just-off-strike local Machinists union workers, but the layoffs are expected to impact Boeing’s professional aerospace union, which includes engineers and technicians. The Society of Professional Engineering Employees in Aerospace (SPEEA) said last week that 438 members had already received layoff notices.

The cuts appear to impact workers in all three of Boeing’s divisions: commercial airplanes, defense, and global services. The 10% cut includes workers at Boeing facilities across the country.

Laid-off Boeing workers will receive severance pay, which will typically be one week of pay for every year of service, plus career transition services and subsidized health care benefits for up to three weeks.

Insiders believe there will likely be another round of layoffs in December.