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.
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