P. M. BRIEFING : 1,200 to Be Laid Off by Boeing

Boeing Co. plans to lay off about 1,200 employees in the first half of 1990, with most of the cuts to be made among production workers at Everett, Chairman Frank Shrontz said.

Shrontz’s comment, in interviews with the Seattle Times and the Morning News Tribune of Tacoma, confirmed recent speculation that jobs would be cut.

The exact size of the layoffs or where they might occur has not yet been determined, but it will likely be in the general range of 1,200 employees, Shrontz said.

“The continued impact of the defense budget on some of our programs has made it now look like we can’t hold the decline to just attrition and there will be layoffs in the first half” of next year, he said. In the early 1970s as many as 60,000 workers lost their jobs in a two-year period.

Shrontz said the company had anticipated a reduction in production workers who were needed for start-up work on the 747-400 jetliner, but had not thought layoffs would be necessary.

Increased experience and productivity on the assembly lines is lessening the need for more workers, Shrontz said, even though the company is experiencing a record surge in orders--888 jets worth $46.7 billion this year. There is also an $85 billion backlog of more than 1,700 planes.