Look for the Boeing Space Center in Kent to keep on shrinking.
Boeing announced on Monday that about 2,000 jobs in its defense division are moving to other cities, mainly St. Louis and Oklahoma City. Most of those 2,000 employees are at facilities in Kent and Seattle. The transition of jobs could take up to three years.
“We typically don’t give out numbers for a specific site,” said Boeing spokeswoman Yvonne Johnson-Jones when asked how many Kent employees are going to be impacted.
Boeing sold off 70 acres at the Space Center property in 2013 to the IDS Real Estate Group and Clarion Partners. Amazon.com, Inc. is building a nearly 1 million-square-foot fulfillment center on the property, which also includes the Stryker Business Center at Pacific Gateway. Crews demolished several former Boeing buildings to make room for the new project.
Boeing’s defense business employs about 5,200 in the Puget Sound region and many of those are in Kent, Johnson-Jones said.
“The decision to consolidate these activities was difficult because it affects our employees, their families and their communities,” said Chris Chadwick, Boeing Defense, Space & Security president and chief executive officer, in a media release. “However, this is necessary if we are going to differentiate ourselves from competitors and stay ahead of a rapidly changing global defense environment.”
The cuts will impact large segments of employees at the Boeing Kent Space Center and at the Seattle Developmental Center, according to a media release from the Society of Professional Engineering Employees in Aerospace (SPEEA). The union represents 914 employees in Kent and 920 at the Seattle Developmental Center.
“Boeing has not provided exact numbers to us – although the company continues to promise them,” said SPEEA spokesman Bill Dugovich in a Tuesday email. “So, what we do know is (Monday’s) announced job cuts will impact a total of 2,000 employees. Of the 2,000, about 1,000 are SPEEA represented engineers and technical workers. Employees at the Kent Space Center will be impacted. Employees there were told (Tuesday) morning that after the reductions, only four buildings will be occupied.”
Boeing has about 11 buildings on the Kent property, Johnson-Jones said. She didn’t know how many buildings would be needed after the job reduction. But she said the facility also includes many employees who work in the defense, space and security program that are not going anywhere.
“We have a lot of labor in engineering and technology that will remain,” she said.
Ben Wolters, city of Kent economic and community development director, said he has requested a meeting with Boeing officials to discuss their plans for the site after the latest job reductions. He said city staff estimates about 2,500 people work at the Boeing Space Center. He added losing a large number of employees from the center will have an economic impact on nearby businesses.
“They are well-paying jobs,” Wolters said. “I often see Boeing employees or their customers, contractors or various members of the Air Force who fly planes worked on the Space Center and those are people who won’t be going to lunch. So it will have an impact on hotels, restaurants and other businesses.”
Boeing didn’t provide any specific layoff numbers to the city. Wolters said the city has a development agreement with Boeing that could kick in if the company wants to sell off more surplus property. Boeing opened the Space Center in 1964. The company has employed more than 5,000 at the site.
SPEEA points out that the latest job losses come less than a year after the Legislature approved $8.7 billion in tax breaks for the state’s aerospace industry, with Boeing in line to receive the lion’s share.
“The silence from Olympia is deafening,” said Ray Goforth, SPEEA executive director. “Why are Washington taxpayers subsidizing Boeing to move thousands of jobs out of state?”
Programs to be relocated include services and support work for Airborne Warning and Control Systems, Airborne Early Warning & Control and the F-22 Raptor.
As many as 900 positions could be added in Oklahoma City and up to 500 in St. Louis, according to Boeing. Headquartered in St. Louis, Boeing Defense, Space & Security is a $33 billion business with 56,000 employees worldwide.
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