Boeing posts 4th quarter loss, announces 10,000 job cuts (2009, companies, property)

[thetalentedmrdiamonte]

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090128/...azDOXPV0KyBhIF

mod cut: text removed

[SYS]

Wow, with each day I feel like I'm being hit with a brick...

[wsugrad03]

Sad....As a former Boeing engineer, I have to say I'm not surprised. After Caterpillar announced 20K layoffs, it was only a matter of time before Boeing upped their ante. I'm not sure how long Boeing will remain competitive with the high cost of the unions. Of course, their management style is glacial and 30 years out of date, which also adds to the problem.

Now Starbucks is cutting 6,700 employees. Ouch! Everyone is now nervously looking at Amazon to see how many heads will roll from that company.

Whatever happened to the Seattle region being recession-proof.

2009 is going to SUCK....

[VeronikaW]

Originally Posted by wsugrad03

Everyone is now nervously looking at Amazon to see how many heads will roll from that company.

That's where my husband works, and everyday I wait to hear they're going to do layoffs. So far, nothing yet.

[70Ford]

Ouch. Two headlines from the Everett Herald...juxtaposed.

http://heraldnet.com/article/20090128/NEWS01/701289754
Economy hinges on Boeing, Snohomish County Executive Aaron Reardon says
EVERETT -- Snohomish County's best hope for weathering the economic crisis is to make sure the Boeing Co. keeps production of the 787 Dreamliner jet in south Everett, County Executive Aaron Reardon said on Tuesday.

Reardon said he plans to release details soon on how the region's leaders could persuade the aerospace giant to stay in the area. His comments came in a State of the County speech to Rotarians over lunch at the Naval Station Everett.

"We are all aware today that our Puget Sound economy, which is stronger than almost any regional economy in the nation, has slowed significantly," he said. "The effects of the housing bubble have had a devastating impact in virtually every corner of this nation and in every market in this world. And we most definitely are not immune."

http://heraldnet.com/article/2009012...01289997/0/BIZ
Boeing to cut 10,000 jobs, posts $56 million loss
In response to challenging economic times, the Boeing Co. will lay off a total of 10,000 workers in 2009.

Boeing reported on Wednesday a quarterly loss of $56 million due to the Machinists strike, problems with its 747. For the full year, Boeing’s net income fell 34 percent to $2.7 billion compared to 2007.

[eskercurve]

Boeing is starting a slow downhill decline and will eventually be eclipsed by upstart aviation companies from Brazil, Canada, and China. Japan may get into the market too.

After this layoff I am unsure if they will ever recover.

[MichaelinWA]

And Paccar, Starbucks, Weyerhaeuser, Russell Investments, Microsoft, and all the other big local companies that have cut staff or announced layoffs - will they not ever recover? This miserable economy is not just about Boeing, a company that was booming just a couple of years ago.

[70Ford]

I read somewhere the union strike cost them abut 1.2 billion.


The company had a net loss of $56 million in the fourth quarter, or 8 cents a share, compared with net income of $1.03 billion, or $1.36 a share, a year earlier. Much of the loss was because of the nearly two-month-long Machinists strike, which reduced earnings by an estimated $1.2 billion. Boeing said it delivered 105 fewer planes because of the strike. It was Boeing's first loss since the second quarter of 2006, when it lost $160 million, or 21 cents a share.

Boeing to lay off 10,000 this year


Boeing Co. came right out Wednesday and accused its machinists of torpedoing its fourth-quarter. The company reported a loss for the first time in nearly three years. The quarter included an eight-week strike by machinists, and there's no denying that hurt the bottom line. See

To hammer home the point, Boeing said it's laying off 10,000 workers. So any victories the union bosses might have won by striking will be lost on workers trooping off to the unemployment office.
Boeing pins a loss on the union - MarketWatch

[MichaelinWA]

Contrary to what the article implies, you don't cut 10,000 people because of a bad quarter. The problems of Boeing in this economic environment go much deeper than that, unfortunately. But again, Boeing is hardly alone in having problems.

Originally Posted by 70Ford

To hammer home the point, Boeing said it's laying off 10,000 workers. So any victories the union bosses might have won by striking will be lost on workers trooping off to the unemployment office.

[wsugrad03]

Originally Posted by eskercurve

Boeing is starting a slow downhill decline and will eventually be eclipsed by upstart aviation companies from Brazil, Canada, and China. Japan may get into the market too.

After this layoff I am unsure if they will ever recover.

That's pretty sad considering Boeing trained a lot of the foreign contractors that are now working back in their home country, competing with Boeing for future business.

What do you think happens when you outsource your labor? You may save pennies on the dollar in labor cost, but you're also training future competitors to compete with you in the future. Did the execs at Boeing forget the importance of intellectual property?

In a way this is a good thing for aerospace because it will force Boeing to be more innovative. If it doesn't, Boeing will become another GM.