ST. LOUIS — The Boeing Company on Wednesday announced it had made "the difficult decision to reduce its workforce" and expected to lay off 692 employees at the company's locations across Missouri.
The layoffs begin Jan. 17, the company said.
The company outlined the number of layoffs expected for each of its Missouri locations:
- Berkeley: 363 jobs
- Hazelwood: 239 jobs
- St. Charles: 68 jobs
- Maryland Heights: 1 job
- Kansas City: 1 job
- Kingsville: 1 job
- O'Fallon: 1 job
The announcement comes just days after Boeing announced a 17,000 employee reduction, including 100 St. Louis-area jobs.
Some 1,600 workers report to different Boeing facilities across the St. Louis region.
"Take a deep breath... What might be a positive out of this situation and how can we start thinking through the next steps?" said Head Job Coach Lauren Herring with Impact Group.
She often works with employees who find themselves getting the devastating news.
The workers being laid off at Boeing hold various positions. They include engineers, mechanics and supply chain specialists.
5 On Your Side caught up with a Boeing employee who's keeping his job.
"I am passionate about continuing to support my team while acknowledging we have good people hurting from everything that's happening," said the employee, who asked not to be identified. "My focus is to treat everyone like people, not resources, and do the best good that I can while praying the leaders above me will do the same.
"It's really important for the survivors, for the remaining employees at the company, to recognize that the company is taking care of their fellow employees and their friends who are leaving, sometimes under difficult circumstances."
"The City of Berkeley is certainly aware of the overall business challenges facing Boeing," Berkeley City Manager Nathan Mai-Lombardo said in a statement. "We are confident they will be able to overcome those challenges, meet all obligations, and be stronger than ever in the future. We highly value the contributions they make to our community, and look forward to being a partner in their future success,"
Boeing is one of the largest employers in the bi-state.
Boeing workers create several military aircraft and weapons systems. The company said a delay in the 777X commercial aircraft being delivered is to blame for cutting staff.
See the full detailed list of layoffs here:
"I am not happy with how we got here but I'm determined to make sure we prove to do better, because what we do is extremely important," the anonymous Boeing employee said.
There were protests as recent as this month, where Boeing workers demanded better pay amid furloughs and word layoffs could be on the horizon.
Career coaches said sudden unemployment in some cases can lead to new paths altogether.
"This is an opportunity where I wouldn’t have otherwise changed direction in my career and maybe this is a golden opportunity to do something that I've always wanted to do,” Herring said.
"They're a good corporate citizen… they're important to our St. Louis economy. They're important to our national economy… We have confidence that Boeing is going to come through this difficult time,” Herring added.
The local Boeing workers let go will continue to be paid and receive health benefits through mid-January.