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Boeing To Further Reduce Airplane Workforce Next Year

Boeing officials informed employees this week that the aerospace giant will need to make more cuts next year amid lagging sales of large passenger aircraft.

Boeing officials informed employees Monday that the aerospace giant will need to make more cuts next year amid lagging sales of large passenger aircraft.

Reuters reported that a memo to commercial aircraft workers, which was made public by the company, indicated that the number of job reductions in 2017 would exceed earlier forecasts.

Boeing plans to offer a voluntary layoff package — including a lump sum payment of one week's pay for each year served — early next year, but involuntary layoffs could also occur. The company said that it was still evaluating its budget and could not say how many cuts could be forthcoming.

Officials last week announced that Boeing would again cut production of its 777 jetliner due to slow sales, with job cuts likely to follow.

Company executives also hope to effectively double its operating profit margin by 2020.

"We've got to perform better," a company spokesman told Reuters. "It's an ongoing process."

Boeing endured a rough 2016 particularly due to a strong dollar. The company reportedly took in 468 net orders for jetliners this year compared to more than 1,400 in 2014.

The company cut more than 6,000 jobs — or more than 7 percent of its workforce — through November and expects that number to reach 8 percent by the end of the year.

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