(CNBC) -- Boeing is planning to lay off more than 6,000 employees this week in an effort to slash costs as the coronavirus pandemic continues to devastate the air travel and aerospace industries.
The aircraft manufacturer previously said it is seeking to reduce its head count by 10% through voluntary and involuntary separations from the company. Boeing said in its 2019 annual report that it had more than 160,000 employees.
“Following the reduction-in-force announcement we made last month, we have concluded our voluntary layoff (VLO) program,” CEO Dave Calhoun said in a note to employees. “And now we have come to the unfortunate moment of having to start involuntary layoffs (ILO). We’re notifying the first 6,770 of our U.S. team members this week that they will be affected.”
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