Boeing to eliminate 2,500 positions in another setback Washington state’s workforce

The company plans to reduce its commercial airplane workforce by approximately 5 percent through attrition and involuntary layoffs, with notifications to affected employees beginning in December. Boeing has not disclosed how many positions will be eliminated in Washington or which facilities and employee groups will be affected.

Boeing Commercial Airplanes chief Stephanie Pope announced the reductions in a November 9 message to employees, explaining that slower production increases had left the division overstaffed.

“Adjusting our production schedules and reducing aircraft output puts us in an overstaffed position,” Pope wrote, according to The Seattle Times.

The commercial airplane division employed nearly 50,500 people at the end of 2025, meaning a 5 percent reduction would eliminate approximately 2,500 positions if staffing remains comparable. Because the reductions include attrition, the number of involuntary layoffs has not been determined publicly.

Boeing employs approximately 65,000 people across Washington. That statewide figure includes employees outside the commercial airplane division. Boeing has not identified which programs would see layoffs.

The announcement comes as production difficulties continue to hamper Boeing’s recovery. During its October 27 earnings call, the company said it was taking longer than anticipated to stabilize 737 production at 47 aircraft per month, with consistent performance at that rate expected to take until 2027.

CEO Kelly Ortberg identified wing production as the principal bottleneck. Improvements intended to accelerate work in the wing shop had not delivered all the expected gains, requiring additional changes and capacity. Boeing now targets production of 52 aircraft monthly in the second half of 2027 and expects to fall short of its 2026 goal of delivering 500 737s.

The manufacturing problems persist despite a substantial order book. Boeing’s commercial airplane division ended the third quarter with a record backlog exceeding 6,300 aircraft, valued at $612 billion. The division nevertheless reported a $697 million quarterly operating loss on approximately $10.7 billion in revenue.

The staffing announcement also follows a recent agreement with Boeing’s engineering and technical employees. Workers approved new contracts roughly a month earlier, avoiding a potential strike and securing an immediate 10 percent wage increase. Most employees covered by those agreements work in Washington.

Boeing previously announced a companywide workforce reduction of approximately 17,000 positions, or 10 percent, in 2024.

The announcement adds to a series of job cuts affecting Washington employers. A November 2 Amazon filing detailed 95 Washington positions scheduled for elimination between December 7 and January 25.

Oracle has also disclosed 359 Washington job cuts with a November 13 separation date. Combined with the 491 Seattle-area positions eliminated earlier this year, the reductions bring Oracle’s Washington cuts to 850 in 2026.

Other employers have also reduced their Washington workforces. Google, Zillow and Salesforce disclosed cuts affecting 52, 91 and 59 Washington employees, respectively, adding to the region’s continuing wave of corporate downsizing.