It was only five months back that President Donald Trump came to the North Charleston plant of Boeing in South Carolina and assured that his administration would fight for every last American job. However, within five months, there is gloom because Boeing has revealed that layoffs are in the offing and it could affect nearly 200 workers of the plant. The workers affected will be from the 787 dreamliner campus and associated facilities in the city.
Obviously, manufacturing transport aircraft in the present day is not a smooth affair and it depends on a market for the final product which, in turn, depends on the competition from other manufacturers.
Reason for the loss of jobs
The New Zealand Herald reports that Boeing has admitted to the proposed loss of jobs in its production units because it wants to reduce costs so that it can remain competitive. The company also said that it would extend assistance to those affected by the layoffs from the Dreamliner lines and help them to find alternate jobs.
Boeing has not yet notified the affected employees but it is believed that the list will include employees from various disciplines like operations management, engineering, quality control, and training. Boeing has also not revealed the number of employees who will be dismissed or when the process would begin.
About the company
Boeing is a major employer in the United States and has more than 140,000 workers on its rolls spread across Washington, California, Missouri and South Carolina.
In December, iBoeing indicated a possible reduction in the workforce as demand for new planes had shown a downward trend. Boeing wanted to cut down on production of the Boeing 777 by 40 percent in 2017.
Seattle Times has reported that by March, there were many voluntary layoffs by employees in Washington State. Others were handed involuntary layoff notices in April in Seattle.
This appears to be a bit strange because Boeing continues to promote investments in American jobs and supports high-value aerospace jobs across its supply chain all over the country. Statistics show that in 2015 it paid out nearly $50 billion to more than 13,600 businesses to extend support to millions of supplier-related jobs.
It stands to reason that the company wants to discontinue production of Boeing 777 due to lack of demand but why it is resorting to reducing jobs in its Dreamliner 787 plant is not very clear. This is a relatively later model and should still be in demand.
