Boeing to cut nearly 2,200 jobs at historic sites in Washington state

The US aviation giant Boeing sent out its first redundancy notifications on Monday as part of a previously announced plan to cut 10 per cent of its global workforce.

Boeing intends to cut almost 2,200 jobs in the US state of Washington, which is home to many of its oldest factories, according to a statement made public on Monday.

Companies in the United States are required by law to submit a “WARN” notice (Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification) to local authorities sixty days before any lay-offs.

In its notice, Boeing said it expects to start laying people off permanently starting on December 20, with 2,199 people affected.

The group has been plagued by production quality problems, and has just suffered a strike lasting more than 50 days that paralysed two crucial factories.

On October 12, it unveiled plans to reduce its global workforce by 10 per cent over the coming months, without giving further details.

Boeing’s employees numbered some 170,000 people at the end of last year, with close to 67,000 of them in Washington state, where the company was founded and where it produces its bestselling 737 line of aircraft, along with the 777, 767 and several military planes.