Boeing Cutting 10,000 Jobs

Jobs Air Force Plane maker announces an additional 5500 job cuts as demand for new aircraft is expected to remain weak.

by CNN Money

Published: Wed, January 28, 2009 - 1:50 pm CST Last Updated: Wed, January 28, 2009 - 1:52 pm CST

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- Boeing Co. became the latest major American company to announce job cuts Wednesday as the nation's battered labor market continues to shed jobs at an alarming rate.

The plane maker and defense contractor said it will cut a total of 10,000 jobs this year, with the majority taking place in the next six months, as the company struggles with dwindling demand for new aircraft.

Earlier this month, Boeing announced plans to shed 4,500 jobs in its Commercial Airplanes division. But the additional 5500 job cuts will be across various other parts of the company.

The additional cuts will "cut across all of our geographies, some are in the state of Washington," said Jim McNerney, Boeing's chief executive, in a conference call with analysts.

Boeing (BA, Fortune 500) announced the job reductions after reporting a larger-than-expected fourth-quarter loss. The company also warned that 2009 earnings will be below Wall Street's forecasts as orders for new planes and defense contracts are expected to remain sparse.

The additional cuts are "probably in preparation for what they see as softer production rates," said Peter Arment, an analyst who covers Boeing for American Technology Research.

"This is nothing new to Boeing," Arment said. "They have a lot of experience dealing with cyclical markets and rapidly increasing and decreasing employment levels."

Wednesday's announcement brings the total number of job cuts this week to more than 80,000. On Monday alone, seven companies from a broad range of industries announced a total of 71,400 job cuts.

The news comes on the same day the Labor Department reported Wednesday that the total number of mass layoffs in 2008 was the highest level since 2001.

The government defines mass layoffs as those that involve "at least 50 persons from a single employer."

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