Boeing Announces Layoff Months After Trump's Visit
Five months after President Donald Trump proclaimed “we are going to fight for every last American job” at a Boeing factory in South Carolina, the company announced Thursday it would be laying off “fewer than 200 people” at the North Charleston plant campus.
“Our competition is relentless, and that has made clear our need as a company to reduce cost to be more competitive,” Boeing said in a statement, Washington Post reported.
Read: Boeing Earnings Shatter Projected Profits As Quarterly Revenue Falls
During his visit to the company, Donald Trump said, “We're here today to celebrate American engineering and American manufacturing, we're also here today to celebrate jobs. Jobs!”
Boeing employs about 140,000 workers in the United States, mostly in, California, Washington, Missouri and South Carolina, Washington Post reported.
Lay offs at Boeing had been ongoing throughout this year, with over 400 employees already let go, reports said. Those however were from different Boeing plants. The plant where the president had visited and celebrated new jobs, saw layoffs for the first time this year. This is not the first time the airline company will be laying off employees. Boeing laid off more than 30,000 employees in 2001. Over the years, many renowned companies have cut jobs on a large scale.
Boeing is not even the only company to lay off employees in big numbers. Here are some of the biggest corporate layoffs in U.S. history:
IBM – 60,000 employees
In one of the biggest job cuts, IBM issued pink slips to 60,000 employees in 1993. IBM’s core mainframe business was becoming obsolete with the arrival of personal computers. The company wanted to shift its focus on providing integrated solutions for its customers and CEO Louis Gerster had put aside $8.9 billion which led to the loss of 60,000 jobs.
Citibank – 50,000 employees
Citibank had 50,000 employees laid off in November, 2008. At that time, it was planning to start disinvestment. Addressing the employees, former CEO Vikram Pandit had said "There is nothing easy about these decisions and the impact on our people. We do this because we must and not because we want to," reports said.
Read: Will Trump Allow Boeing To Sell Jets To Iran?
Sears, Roebuck & Company – 50,000 employees
In January, 1993, Sears, Roebuck & Company decided to axe 50,000 employees. The decision was taken as the company was finding it difficult to compete with the lower cost models of competitors. It closed more than 100 shops.
General Motors – 47,000 employees
In 2009, General Motors reduced its workforce by 47,000. They closed five factories due to global recession and increasing competition from Japanese manufacturer competition. The company had also announced plans to phase out its Hummer brand and scale back its Pontiac line, reports said.
AT&T – 40,000 employees
While most companies lay off employees while not making profit, AT&T cut 40,000 employees in January 1996, when almost all of the company's divisions were profitable and growing, reports said. The company had then planned to focus on telecommunications equipment, communications services, and computers.
Companies like Ford Motors Company, Kmart also laid off thousands of employees over the years.
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