Numerous workers at Skills Inc., a manufacturing company in Auburn, Washington, that builds parts for the Boeing 737 Max, have been laid off or furloughed, or had their hours cut.
Skills Inc. is a nonprofit that offers training and jobs for people with disabilities – it says about 60% of its staff of 600 have a self-identified disability.
Business Insider spoke with employees and reviewed communications from the company. Workers said the cuts were a direct result of Boeing suspending production of the troubled 737 Max.
Numerous employees at Skills Inc., a Boeing supplier in Auburn, Washington, have been laid off or furloughed, or had their hours cut, current and former employees told Business Insider. It’s the latest in the fallout from Boeing’s decision to suspend production of the troubled 737 Max airplane.
Skills, an aerospace manufacturer and supplier, is among about 600 companies that build components for the Boeing 737 Max. Unlike similar companies, however, Skills is a nonprofit.
The company describes itself as a „business with a social mission“ and a „self-supporting, nonprofit social enterprise“ that offers training and employment for people with disabilities.
According to Skills‘ website, about 60% of its 600 employees have a self-identified disability. The company says it has „a fully integrated work environment where individuals with and without disabilities work side-by-side throughout our four lines of business.“
In a termination letter sent to some affected employees and seen by Business Insider, Skills Inc. CEO Todd Dunnington said the company’s staffing imbalance, caused by „reduced production rates at our largest customer,“ was initially expected to be short-term but is now „forecasted to last for an unknown amount of time.“
Several employees confirmed to Business Insider that they had been told the layoffs were due to reduced demand by Boeing.
The recent layoffs and work reductions followed reductions in 2019 due to reduced 737 Max production, a current employee, who asked to remain nameless, told Business Insider.
Workers at the company were blindsided and left scrambling – but while they were unhappy about the situation, most of the employees Business Insider spoke with had only positive things to say about Skills.
„I simply hope to hear from my Skills supervisor before my savings and food run out,“ one employee who was laid off told Business Insider. „I am more fortunate than many in that I have family and friends in Seattle who will make sure I do not end up homeless.“ The employee, who has a chronic illness affecting their vision, dexterity, and cognitive and memory abilities, asked to not be named in this story.
„I’m so sad,“ another employee, who was near retirement age and was laid off, told Business Insider. „I wasn’t ready to be put out to pasture.“
Representatives at Skills Inc. did not reply to repeated requests for comment and attempts to connect. Boeing did not respond to a request for comment.
The total number of affected employees was not immediately clear.
Boeing’s 737 Max crisis is rippling through the US labor market
Boeing announced in December that it would temporarily suspend 737 Max assembly and acceptance of supplier components starting this month. The 737 Max has been grounded worldwide since the March 2019 crash of Ethiopian Airlines Flight 302, the second fatal crash within five months. A total of 346 people were killed in the two crashes of the jet, the latest model of Boeing’s workhorse 737 narrow-body.
In April, Boeing reduced production of the Max to 42 units a month from 52, but it had otherwise maintained production throughout the grounding. However, it has been unable to deliver planes to customers during the grounding, leading to a pileup of about 400 completed planes at its facilities, stretching its storage capabilities.
While announcing the production suspension, Boeing said it had no plans to lay off or furlough any of the 12,000 employees at the facility that assembles the 737 Max, instead temporarily reassigning workers to other tasks or teams.
However, Boeing has about 600 suppliers that build components or provide services related to the Max, some of which earn a substantial portion of their revenue from Boeing contracts related to the plane. Boeing says it’s the largest manufacturing exporter in the US, which, coupled with the number of suppliers it buys from, can lead to an outsize effect on workforces around the country – Boeing has just over 150,000 employees across its commercial, defense, and global services divisions, but the actual number of engineering and manufacturing employees touched by the plane is far greater.
Earlier this month, Spirit AeroSystems, which builds fuselages for the plane, announced it would lay off 2,800 workers at its factory in Wichita, Kansas, because of the 737 Max production halt, with smaller cuts planned at its facilities in Tulsa and McAlester, Oklahoma. Spirit said that building components for the 737 Max accounted for about 50% of its annual revenue. An employee told Business Insider that layoffs would begin to take effect this week.
General Electric, which builds power plants for the 737 Max and other planes, laid off 70 temporary employees at a factory in Quebec, but GE’s aerospace-engines division has a far more robust client base than some other suppliers.
Boeing takes delivery of components and finishes assembling the planes at its factory in Renton, Washington.
Boeing has been scrambling to complete a fix for the 737 Max and get the plane recertified by the Federal Aviation Administration. However, the plane maker has suffered numerous setbacks and doesn’t have a timeline for returning the plane to service.
Do you work for a Boeing supplier or an airline affected by the 737 Max grounding? Email this reporter at [email protected].
TORONTO – Roots Corp. may have built its brand on all things comfy and cosy, but its CEO says activewear is now “really becoming a core part” of the brand.
The category, which at Roots spans leggings, tracksuits, sports bras and bike shorts, has seen such sustained double-digit growth that Meghan Roach plans to make it a key part of the business’ future.
“It’s an area … you will see us continue to expand upon,” she told analysts on a Friday call.
The Toronto-based retailer’s push into activewear has taken shape over many years and included several turns as the official designer and supplier of Team Canada’s Olympic uniform.
But consumers have had plenty of choice when it comes to workout gear and other apparel suited to their sporting needs. On top of the slew of athletic brands like Nike and Adidas, shoppers have also gravitated toward Lululemon Athletica Inc., Alo and Vuori, ramping up competition in the activewear category.
Roach feels Roots’ toehold in the category stems from the fit, feel and following its merchandise has cultivated.
“Our product really resonates with (shoppers) because you can wear it through multiple different use cases and occasions,” she said.
“We’ve been seeing customers come back again and again for some of these core products in our activewear collection.”
Her remarks came the same day as Roots revealed it lost $5.2 million in its latest quarter compared with a loss of $5.3 million in the same quarter last year.
The company said the second-quarter loss amounted to 13 cents per diluted share for the quarter ended Aug. 3, the same as a year earlier.
In presenting the results, Roach reminded analysts that the first half of the year is usually “seasonally small,” representing just 30 per cent of the company’s annual sales.
Sales for the second quarter totalled $47.7 million, down from $49.4 million in the same quarter last year.
The move lower came as direct-to-consumer sales amounted to $36.4 million, down from $37.1 million a year earlier, as comparable sales edged down 0.2 per cent.
The numbers reflect the fact that Roots continued to grapple with inventory challenges in the company’s Cooper fleece line that first cropped up in its previous quarter.
Roots recently began to use artificial intelligence to assist with daily inventory replenishments and said more tools helping with allocation will go live in the next quarter.
Beyond that time period, the company intends to keep exploring AI and renovate more of its stores.
It will also re-evaluate its design ranks.
Roots announced Friday that chief product officer Karuna Scheinfeld has stepped down.
Rather than fill the role, the company plans to hire senior level design talent with international experience in the outdoor and activewear sectors who will take on tasks previously done by the chief product officer.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2024.
VANCOUVER – Mediated talks between the union representing HandyDART workers in Metro Vancouver and its employer, Transdev, are set to resume today as a strike that has stopped most services drags into a second week.
No timeline has been set for the length of the negotiations, but Joe McCann, president of the Amalgamated Transit Union Local 1724, says they are willing to stay there as long as it takes, even if talks drag on all night.
About 600 employees of the door-to-door transit service for people unable to navigate the conventional transit system have been on strike since last Tuesday, pausing service for all but essential medical trips.
Hundreds of drivers rallied outside TransLink’s head office earlier this week, calling for the transportation provider to intervene in the dispute with Transdev, which was contracted to oversee HandyDART service.
Transdev said earlier this week that it will provide a reply to the union’s latest proposal on Thursday.
A statement from the company said it “strongly believes” that their employees deserve fair wages, and that a fair contract “must balance the needs of their employees, clients and taxpayers.”
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 12, 2024.
MONTREAL – Travel company Transat AT Inc. reported a loss in its latest quarter compared with a profit a year earlier as its revenue edged lower.
The parent company of Air Transat says it lost $39.9 million or $1.03 per diluted share in its quarter ended July 31.
The result compared with a profit of $57.3 million or $1.49 per diluted share a year earlier.
Revenue in what was the company’s third quarter totalled $736.2 million, down from $746.3 million in the same quarter last year.
On an adjusted basis, Transat says it lost $1.10 per share in its latest quarter compared with an adjusted profit of $1.10 per share a year earlier.
Transat chief executive Annick Guérard says demand for leisure travel remains healthy, as evidenced by higher traffic, but consumers are increasingly price conscious given the current economic uncertainty.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 12, 2024.
