Boeing CEO Kelly Ortberg announced to employees in a memo released on Friday that the company is laying off 17,000 people.
“Our business is in a difficult position, and it is hard to overstate the challenges we face together,” Ortberg said in the memo. “The state of our business and our future recovery require tough actions.”
The decision comes nearly a month after workers with the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers District 751 went on strike. The union, which represents nearly 33,000 workers, rejected Boeings offer of giving workers a 25% wage increase over the next four years. Instead, the union is calling for a 40% wage increase.
Boeing said the strike is costing the company nearly a billion dollars a month and led the company to start one-week furlough for employees. However, Ortberg said in the memo that the cycle of furloughs will end.
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Ortberg became Boeing’s CEO in August following the aftermath of congressional inquiries and the company pleading guilty for its role in two 737 Max jet crashes.
In the past five years, the company has lost $25 billion, and in the third quarter its shares dropped by $9.97.