Boeing starts furloughing tens of thousands of employees amid machinist strike

Boeing will furlough a “large number” of U.S. executives, managers and other staff, citing the ongoing machinist strike as the company races to preserve cash, CEO Kelly Ortberg told employees on Wednesday.

The furloughs will affect tens of thousands of Boeing employees, a company spokesperson said.

The plan came less than a week after Boeing’s more than 30,000 machinists in the Seattle area and Oregon voted down a new labor contract and 96% voted to strike, walking off the job just after midnight on Friday.

Ortberg said affected employees would take one week of furlough every four weeks for the strike’s duration and he and his team would take “commensurate” pay cuts for the duration of the strike.

“While this is a tough decision that impacts everybody, it is in an effort to preserve our long-term future and help us navigate through this very difficult time. We will continue to transparently communicate as this dynamic situation evolves and do all we can to limit this hardship,” Ortberg said in his message.

Boeing’s CFO Brian West earlier this week said the company would freeze hiring and raises to cut costs, and would let “non-essential contractors” go temporarily.

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