Boeing to cut staff by 10% amid coronavirus pandemic

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Boeing Co CEO Dave Calhoun told employees on Wednesday that the largest U.S. planemaker is reducing the size of its workforce by about 10% amid a steep fall in travel demand due to the coronavirus pandemic.

“We have begun taking action to lower our number of employees by roughly 10% through a combination of voluntary layoffs, natural turnover and involuntary layoffs as necessary,” Calhoun said in an email seen by Reuters.

Boeing will need to make “even deeper reductions in areas that are most exposed to the condition of our commercial customers – more than 15% across our commercial airplanes and services businesses, as well as our corporate functions,” he said.

Boeing has about 160,000 employees worldwide.

(Reporting by David Shepardson; editing by Jason Neely)