Spirit AeroSystems announces 360 layoffs in Kansas and Oklahoma
By Staff and Wire Reports on Jul 25, 2013, at 10:40 AM Updated on 7/26/13 at 12:00 AM
Wichita-based Spirit Aerosystems says it has laid off about 360 employees at its Kansas and Oklahoma facilities. MATT BARNARD/Tulsa World file
Employment
The Obama administration approved new rules Tuesday that extend minimum wage and overtime pay to nearly 2 million home health-care workers who help the elderly and disabled with everyday tasks such as bathing, eating or taking medicine.
U.S. Sen. Max Baucus said Monday that his effort to revamp the tax code helped attract some of the business world's biggest names to Montana for a jobs conference that touched on taxes, energy development and other issues.
WICHITA, Kan. — Spirit AeroSystems says it is laying off about 360 employees at its Kansas and Oklahoma facilities.
The Wichita-based aircraft parts maker announced the move Thursday, a day after union officials disclosed company preparations for the anticipated layoffs. The move affects salaried support staff and management employees.
The company said in a news release that the action is a strategic move to make the company more competitive in a cost-sensitive environment. Spirit says it's trying to reduce overhead costs, increase efficiency and improve performance.
Spirit AeroSystems, which makes large sections of airplanes assembled by companies such as Boeing and Airbus, saw its first-quarter net income rise 10 percent as demand for commercial planes increased.
Earlier today, Ray Goforth, executive director of the Society of Professional Engineering Employees in Aerospace, said that the union had heard from various middle managers about impending layoffs.
Reuters were reporting as many as 300 layoffs of engineers companywide. A company email shows the human resources department has blocked off 35 rooms from 6:30 a.m. to noon Thursday for the meetings.
“They are going to ambush them first thing in the morning, you know, call them into these meetings and then shove them out the gate,” Goforth said. “It is just an utterly bizarre way to treat employees that have made this company successful.”
Spirit has a manufacturing complex in Tulsa and employs 3,000 in Oklahoma. It was not known how many local employees might be laid off, but the Tulsa World received phone calls Thursday morning indicating some engineer positions were being eliminated.
If Spirit needs to lay off people, he said, they should do it like other companies that announce the job cuts, then let people know who is going to be laid off and give them a chance to transition.
The way Spirit is apparently doing it is “a shockingly disrespectful way to treat employees.”
Middle managers were so disturbed at the decision being made by executive leadership that they started calling union officials, Goforth said.
Employment
The Obama administration approved new rules Tuesday that extend minimum wage and overtime pay to nearly 2 million home health-care workers who help the elderly and disabled with everyday tasks such as bathing, eating or taking medicine.
U.S. Sen. Max Baucus said Monday that his effort to revamp the tax code helped attract some of the business world's biggest names to Montana for a jobs conference that touched on taxes, energy development and other issues.
