Boeing Co's (BA.N) commercial airplane unit said on Monday it would cut an as-yet-undetermined number of jobs in 2017 after slashing its workforce by 8 percent in 2016, as it struggles to sell planes in the face of a strong dollar.
Boeing said last week that it would cut 777 production to five a month in August 2017, a 40 percent reduction from the current rate of 8.3 a month, because of slow sales.
The company did not say how many jobs it will cut next year, noting it is still assessing its 2017 budget and employment needs.
But the announcement shows the world's biggest plane maker is axing jobs more aggressively than it forecast earlier this year, and that it will not let up the pressure to cut costs under the new chief executive of the airplane unit, Kevin McAllister, who succeeded Ray Conner on Nov. 21. Conner is now vice chairman of Boeing Co.
For 2016, Boeing said it expects job reductions to total 8 percent of the commercial airplane workforce, including a 10 percent reduction in the ranks of executives and managers.
The unit cut 6,115 jobs, or 7.3 percent, through November compared with the tally on Dec. 31, 2015, according to Boeing's employment data. That suggests a further 565 job reductions in 2016, and more next year. In March, the company said it planned to cut about 4,000 jobs at the unit.
http://www.reuters.com/article/us-boeing-layoffs-idUSKBN14826M
