Boeing to cut 12,000 jobs by Dec. 14

AP Business WriterSEATTLE (AP) -- Boeing Co. will cut roughly 12,000 employees from its commercial airplanes and shared services divisions by Dec. 14 in the first round of layoffs prompted by the terrorist attacks, the company said Friday.

About 9,000 of those employees were scheduled to receive 60-day layoff notices Friday, Boeing spokesman Tom Ryan said, including about 7,000 in the Puget Sound region where the majority of Boeing's commercial jets are built.

The 3,000 remaining jobs will be cut through attrition, retirement and laying off contract employees, Ryan confirmed. He would not say how many workers would be cut from each department within commercial airplanes.

The layoff notices do not come as a surprise. Barely a week after the Sept. 11 hijacking attacks pushed many airlines into a deep financial crisis, the jet maker said it would be forced to lay off 20,000 to 30,000 employees from its commercial division by the end of 2002.

Two more rounds of layoff notices are expected.

In addition to the 60-day notice, laid-off Boeing workers will receive one week of severance pay for every year worked, to a maximum of 26 weeks, plus three months of health care coverage.

Boeing workers also can receive job placement assistance, retraining tuition reimbursement and other aid.

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