Boeing Co., already planning to eliminate more than 4,000 jobs, reportedly expects to double that target in the Pacific Northwest as part of a restructuring plan.
The aerospace giant last month announced a sweeping cost-cutting plan amid price competition from French rival Airbus. This week, Boeing said that it expects to trim more than 4,000 jobs by mid-year.
Officials said those cuts would be achieved through a combination of attrition and 1,600 voluntary buyouts.
The Seattle Times, however, reported that Washington state could see as many as 8,000 layoffs.
The paper cited an internal document that projected a 10 percent cut in its Washington Test & Evaluation division. Sources indicated to the Times that similar targets were likely implemented for the rest of the state.
Boeing moved to Chicago in 2001, but the company was founded in Seattle a century ago and nearly half its workforce remains in Washington state.
The additional 4,000 layoffs would reportedly come later in the year if savings can't be realized elsewhere.
In recent years, thousands of jobs were shifted to other states despite Boeing securing $8.7 billion in state tax incentives in 2013 to build the 777X in Washington.
Union leaders in Washington said that although they were not aware of the increased layoff projections, the issue highlights the need for tax credits to be linked to job targets.
"We're the only state that’s not attaching accountability requirements," Ray Goforth, executive director of the Society of Professional Engineering Employees in Aerospace, told the Times.
