Boeing is issuing layoff notices to more than 100 employees across Florida starting in January, according to a Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act letter.
Locations include Titusville and the Kennedy Space Center, where Boeing plays a key role in the aerospace industry. In 2023, the company spent over $1 billion with suppliers in Florida, underscoring its economic influence in the region.
Boeing issued a statement to the Orlando Business Journal attributing the layoffs to its need to “align workforce levels with financial realities and a more focused set of priorities.”
In October, Boeing issued cuts to approximately 17,000 employees who were expected to leave the company in mid-January, Boeing said. The cuts, which came after a labor union strike, equate to 10% of its workforce.
BOEING ISSUES LAYOFF NOTICES AS AEROSPACE GIANT CUTS 17,000 JOBS
“We are adjusting our workforce levels to align with our financial reality and a more focused set of priorities,” Boeing told FOX Business in October.
In an Oct. 23 statement, CEO Kelly Ortberg said the company is “at a crossroads.”
He said that trust in the company has eroded and it is saddled with too much debt. Still, he foresaw great opportunities ahead, including a backlog of roughly half a trillion dollars and “a customer base that want[s] us and need[s] us to succeed.”
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“So, my mission here is pretty straightforward. Turn this big ship in the right direction and restore Boeing to the leadership position that we all know and want,” said Ortberg.
Experts in the field are worried about what this could mean.
“I’m very concerned for the people and the program,” local space expert and founder of the online publication Space Upclose Ken Kremer told Fox 35.
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Boeing, which has more than 170,000 employees worldwide and 2,348 in Florida, has faced financial pressures in recent years. For the first nine months of fiscal 2024, the company reported $51.28 billion in revenue, a drop from $55.78 billion during the same period in 2023.
FOX Business’ Sarah Rumpf-Whitten contributed to this report.
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