Aerospace giant Boeing (IW 500/16) said Friday it would cut between 2,000 to 2,300 jobs by the end of the year as it winds down development of its 787 and 747 aircraft.
About 800 workers will be laid off, with the rest of the cutbacks coming through attrition, redeployment and leaving vacant positions unfilled, the company said in an email 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 said.
The workforce reductions will occur in Boeing Commercial Airplanes activities in the Puget Sound region of Washington state, where the Chicago-based company has its primary aircraft plants.
The job cuts primarily will affect work in post-assembly modification activities on the 787, the troubled cutting-edge jetliner that has been grounded worldwide since mid-January, and on the 747 long-range aircraft.
Boeing noted it had already redeployed more than 500 employees since the beginning of 2013.
Copyright Agence France-Presse, 2013