State share of Boeing jobs grows even as number shrinks

  • By Dan Catchpole Herald Writer
  • Monday, July 28, 2014 9:12pm
  • Business

EVERETT — Depending on how you measure it, Boeing has expanded or contracted in Washington since the late 1990s.

Back then it had more than 100,000 workers in the state, about 20,000 more than it has now. But Washington has grown as a share of Boeing’s total workforce from about 43 percent in 1998 to 48 percent this year, according to The Daily Herald’s analysis of company employment records.

After merging with McDonnell Douglas in 1997, Boeing shed nearly 90,000 jobs by August 2005. Contributing factors included fallout from the merger and a decline in demand for commercial airliners after the 9/11 attacks.

Washington bottomed out in mid-2004 with 52,763 Boeing jobs in the state. Since then Boeing employment here has climbed to 81,724 as of June. About half those workers are at the company’s Everett facility, where it assembles its twin-aisle jetliners.

Boeing’s Washington workforce has even expanded since the company set up a second 787 assembly plant in North Charleston, South Carolina. Since that facility began limited production in July 2011, Boeing has added nearly 3,000 jobs here.

In recent years, though, no state has added more Boeing jobs than South Carolina — 8,359 as of June, according to the company.

And California and Kansas have lost the most.

After the McDonnell Douglas merger, Boeing had about 42,000 jobs in California. It has 18,394 now, which is closer to the company’s pre-merger total.

Boeing is expected to cut more jobs in California next year as it ends production of the C-17, a military cargo airplane developed by McDonnell Douglas.

Those job losses are being offset somewhat by engineering work being moved from metro Puget Sound to California.

Some of the changes in job numbers are due to sales and purchases of subsidiary companies, such as Boeing unloading Rocketdyne in 2005, which had about 3,200 employees, according to a Los Angeles Times report at the time.

That same year, Boeing sold most of its Wichita, Kansas, operation to a Canadian investment firm. The outcome — Spirit AeroSystems, Inc., still supplies fuselage sections for the 737 and 787.

But Boeing proper is all but gone from Kansas, down from more than 22,000 in the late 1990s to 261 last month.

The future is not entirely clear.

Boeing’s defense business faces continued weak market demand, according to analysts.

The company will likely look across the country for assembly sites for its next clean-sheet airplanes — replacements for the 737 and 757, aerospace analysts say.

And automation is expected to grow in production, meaning fewer shopfloor jobs. Automation on the 777X will likely mean the line will need fewer workers than the in-production 777 classic.

Dan Catchpole: 425-339-3454; dcatchpole@heraldnet.com; Twitter: @dcatchpole.

Talk to us

> Give us your news tips.

> Send us a letter to the editor.

> More Herald contact information.

More in Business

Black Press Media operates Sound Publishing, the largest community news organization in Washington State with dailies and community news outlets in Alaska.
Black Press Media concludes transition of ownership

Black Press Media, which operates Sound Publishing, completed its sale Monday (March 25), following the formerly announced corporate restructuring.

Maygen Hetherington, executive director of the Historic Downtown Snohomish Association, laughs during an interview in her office on Thursday, Feb. 15, 2024, in Snohomish, Washington. (Ryan Berry / The Herald)
Maygen Hetherington: tireless advocate for the city of Snohomish

Historic Downtown Snohomish Association receives the Opportunity Lives Here award from Economic Alliance.

FILE - Washington Secretary of State Steve Hobbs poses in front of photos of the 15 people who previously held the office on Nov. 22, 2021, after he was sworn in at the Capitol in Olympia, Wash. Hobbs faces several challengers as he runs for election to the office he was appointed to last fall. (AP Photo/Ted S. Warren, File)
Secretary of State Steve Hobbs: ‘I wanted to serve my country’

Hobbs, a former Lake Stevens senator, is the recipient of the Henry M. Jackson Award from Economic Alliance Snohomish County.

Mark Duffy poses for a photo in his office at the Mountain Pacific Bank headquarters on Wednesday, Feb. 14, 2024 in Everett, Washington. (Annie Barker / The Herald)
Mark Duffy: Building a hometown bank; giving kids an opportunity

Mountain Pacific Bank’s founder is the recipient of the Fluke Award from Economic Alliance Snohomish County.

Barb Tolbert poses for a photo at Silver Scoop Ice Cream on Thursday, Feb. 29, 2024 in Arlington, Washington. (Annie Barker / The Herald)
Barb Tolbert: Former mayor piloted Arlington out of economic brink

Tolbert won the Elson S. Floyd Award, honoring a leader who has “created lasting opportunities” for the underserved.

Photo provided by 
Economic Alliance
Economic Alliance presented one of the Washington Rising Stem Awards to Katie Larios, a senior at Mountlake Terrace High School.
Mountlake Terrace High School senior wins state STEM award

Katie Larios was honored at an Economic Alliance gathering: “A champion for other young women of color in STEM.”

The Westwood Rainier is one of the seven ships in the Westwood line. The ships serve ports in the Pacific Northwest and Northeast Asia. (Photo provided by Swire Shipping)
Westwood Shipping Lines, an Everett mainstay, has new name

The four green-hulled Westwood vessels will keep their names, but the ships will display the Swire Shipping flag.

A Keyport ship docked at Lake Union in Seattle in June 2018. The ship spends most of the year in Alaska harvesting Golden King crab in the Bering Sea. During the summer it ties up for maintenance and repairs at Lake Union. (Keyport LLC)
In crabbers’ turbulent moment, Edmonds seafood processor ‘saved our season’

When a processing plant in Alaska closed, Edmonds-based business Keyport stepped up to solve a “no-win situation.”

Angela Harris, Executive Director of the Port of Edmonds, stands at the port’s marina on Wednesday, Jan. 24, 2024, in Edmonds, Washington. (Ryan Berry / The Herald)
Leadership, love for the Port of Edmonds got exec the job

Shoring up an aging seawall is the first order of business for Angela Harris, the first woman to lead the Edmonds port.

The Cascade Warbirds fly over Naval Station Everett. (Sue Misao / The Herald file)
Bothell High School senior awarded $2,500 to keep on flying

Cascade Warbirds scholarship helps students 16-21 continue flight training and earn a private pilot’s certificate.

Rachel Gardner, the owner of Musicology Co., a new music boutique record store on Thursday, Jan. 18, 2024 in Edmonds, Washington. Musicology Co. will open in February, selling used and new vinyl, CDs and other music-related merchandise. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
New Edmonds record shop intends to be a ‘destination for every musician’

Rachel Gardner opened Musicology Co. this month, filling a record store gap in Edmonds.

MyMyToyStore.com owner Tom Harrison at his brick and mortar storefront on Tuesday, Sept. 6, 2022 in Everett, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
Burst pipe permanently closes downtown Everett toy store

After a pipe flooded the store, MyMyToystore in downtown Everett closed. Owner Tom Harrison is already on to his next venture.

Support local journalism

If you value local news, make a gift now to support the trusted journalism you get in The Daily Herald. Donations processed in this system are not tax deductible.