Boeing to cut up to 2,300 jobs

US aerospace giant Boeing will cut 2,000 to 2,300 jobs by the end of the year as it winds down the development of its 787 and 747 aircraft.

The Chicago-based planemaker said around 800 workers of Boeing Commercial Airplanes will be laid off while the remaining employees will be cutback through attrition, redeployment and leaving vacant positions unfilled, the firm said in a statement to AFP.

“With 787 and 747 development efforts completing and disruption substantially decreasing, we require fewer resources,” the company said.

“We will assess employment needs continuously and may need to hire in some areas to ensure we maintain critical skills. We continue to explore all options to lessen the use of layoffs,” it added.

The job losses will mainly affect machinists doing change incorporation work, or reworking aircraft that have left the factory, and will be limited to those in based in Seattle, where the company has its primary aircraft plants.

The move is unlikely to affect Boeing’s production rates. The airplane maker is doubling up its output of the 787 Dreamliner jets despite the plane being grounded due to technical glitches. Early next year it plans to increase production of the Dreamliner to 42 a month from 38 currently.