Boeing Closure Will Mean Job Transfers But No Cuts

While several high-paying jobs will be transferred out of Seal Beach, there won’t be any layoffs stemming from the decision to close down and sell of two buildings in Boeing’s Seal Beach campus.

According to Boeing officials, employees such as lawyers and marketing executives will be asked to transfer to other Boeing facilities in the region.

“There are no jobs going to be cut,” said Boeing spokeswoman Brittany Kuhn.

“The Boeing Company has anticipated for some time now that the U.S. defense budget trends will be flat to down, and that is why we have been pursuing affordability measures since 2010,” added Kuhn. “At this point, it is too early for Boeing to speculate on what cuts that may come in future budget cycles might mean for individual programs or the facilities that support them.”

The Pentagon's second-largest supplier, Boeing announced plans last week to consolidate several business units, close a handful of Southern California facilities and reduce executive level staffing by 30 percent from 2010 highs.

According to Kuhn, employees work at more than 50 locations throughout the state, with the largest concentration in the Los Angeles area. Three sites – El Segundo, Huntington Beach and Long Beach – have more than 4,000 employees each. 

The company, which employs just over 20,000 people in Southern California plans to shutter Seal Beach buildings 81 and 80, the landmark eight-story building bearing the company name, said Kuhn. The company will continue to operate out of a cluster of 11 remaining buildings spanning roughly 45-acres.

Kuhn declined to say how much the company hopes to raise from the sale of the Seal Beach buildings along with vacant facilities in nearby Huntington Beach.