By Dan Catchpole
SEATTLE, Feb 4 (Reuters) – Boeing told employees last week that it plans to consolidate 787 engineering work in South Carolina as it ramps up production of its popular twin-aisle jet, the union representing its engineers said on Wednesday.
It would mean moving about 300 jobs from Washington state, where engineers are represented by the Society of Professional Engineering Employees in Aerospace (SPEEA), to a non-union state, the union said.
Boeing’s two contracts with about 16,000 SPEEA members in Washington expire in October.
In addition to adding engineers in South Carolina, the company plans to hire engineers in Washington, to support production rate increases of its popular single-aisle 737 jet, a Boeing spokesperson told Reuters on Wednesday.
Union officials were blindsided by last week’s announcement, which came one day after Boeing management told them that no decisions affecting union members or work were expected in the foreseeable future, SPEEA Executive Director Ray Goforth said in a statement.
SPEEA has pressed the company for details, as well as assurances that its members will not be laid off. However, Boeing has not replied, according to the union.
The announcement and subsequent silence “casts a pall over upcoming contract negotiations,” Goforth said.
EXPANDING IN SOUTH CAROLINA
Boeing increased its South Carolina workforce by about 10% in 2025 to 9,059, according to company records.
Much of the hiring occurred in the second half of last year, when the planemaker increased 787 production rate from five jets a month to eight. It plans a further boost to 10 jets a month this year.
South Carolina was the only state where the company hired significant numbers of workers last year. Most saw headcount cut, led by Washington state, where there were 2,500 fewer workers.
In December, the planemaker added approximately 15,000 workers in Kansas and Oklahoma through its purchase of supplier Spirit AeroSystems. It also shed 3,900 workers last year when it sold off subsidiary Jeppesen, a digital navigation services provider.
Boeing ended 2025 with just under 182,000 workers, including 65,000 in Washington state.
After adjusting for the Jeppesen and Spirit AeroSystems moves, Boeing slimmed its workforce by about 1,500 people last year. That is far fewer than the 10% reduction that Boeing CEO Kelly Ortberg announced in late 2024.
At that time, Boeing issued more than 4,000 layoff notices, which took effect in early 2025. Many of the laid-off workers moved to open jobs elsewhere in the company, a spokesperson said.
This week, Boeing’s defense unit is cutting about 300 non-union supply chain jobs, a person familiar with the matter told Reuters, as the company continues to adjust its workforce.
Some of the laid-off workers could end up filling open jobs elsewhere in the company, said the person, who was not authorized to publicly speak about personnel matters.
“Boeing regularly evaluates and adjusts its workforce to stay aligned to our commitments to our customers and communities,” a Boeing spokesperson said in an email.
The defense job cuts were first reported by Bloomberg News.
(Reporting by Aishwarya Jain in Bengaluru and Dan Catchpole in Seattle; Editing by Pooja Desai and Jamie Freed)
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