Posted on 10/31/2009 12:40:27 PM PDT by My Favorite Headache
The Boeing Co. announced Friday it will lay off a third of its 1,000-member workforce at Kennedy Space Center next year.
The layoffs will come in January, May and August as the shuttle program heads toward retirement.
Some 330 workers will be laid off from Boeing's Checkout, Assembly and Payload Processing Services program, which has about 500 workers, spokeswoman Susan Wells said Friday.
"Boeing is committed to preserving as many jobs as possible for our valued, highly skilled employees, and the company has taken aggressive steps to lessen the impact of these potential reductions," a company statement said.
"These steps include redeploying CAPPS personnel to other programs, evaluating contract labor requirements, and offering career services and related assistance."
Wells said the layoff numbers could change, up or down, if NASA changes its plans to end the shuttle program by 2011.
"Based on what we know today, Boeing is planning to issue layoff notices to approximately 330 workers next year," said the Boeing statement.
Nearly 1,000 space industry workers have lost their jobs this year because of cutbacks in the shuttle program in Brevard County.
A total of 7,500 space industry workers are expected to face post-shuttle unemployment, and nearly three times as many related jobs could be lost. Recently, prime contractor United Space Alliance announced nearly 300 layoffs.
On Wednesday, NASA carried out a successful test firing of a possible shuttle replacement rocket, the Ares, but the project remains behind schedule.
So, even with massive increases to the NASA budget, the unemployment level in Brevard, now at 11.1 percent, could come close to the post-Apollo era level of 14.7 percent, the highest it's ever been.
If we are going to live within our means we can stop bailing out failed corporations and trying to get a government healthcare system. Plus we could trim a few percent off the federal budget for entitlement programs easily.
NASA was good when Von Braun and the Germans ran it.
Looks like slack jawed hill billy yokel and NASA poverty pimp Bill Nelson did not bring home the bacon to NASA. I guess Obama’s reparations are a higher priority. NASA needs even more ACORN types to really make it like the post office.
People voted for this. They were too busy watching the NFL, college football, NASCAR and other crap to notice their country was being stolen.
Former Marine judge David O. Carter sold out his honor, manhood and country to the Saudis and the usurper. Another Jack Murtha.
If we get the country back - maybe we can hire again Germans to rebuild the space program. They still have some discipline and intelligence. I have seen Mercedes engineers, young Germans testing cars at a hotel out west. They were pouring over data until 10 pm in the hotel meeting room every night.
The list, ping
Agreed. I live here too and as a native Floridian I can say this is easily the worst I have seen things. People I am close with now drive to Orange County to work on a daily basis or Osceola. There are no jobs in Brevard. If you want a house that was $389,000.00 about 20 months ago and now $205,000 then this is your place.
If morale is based on people applying for jobs then it is high. If morale is based on people actually getting or having jobs...then morale is in the toilet covered with toilet paper and other things I won’t get into with the finger on the flusher.
The local Chik-Fil-A had over 2,700 applications to fill 45 positions when it opened 2 months ago. That is for an $8.50 an hour job.
Believe me I know about the job situation and it is very ugly. No hope or change in sight either.
Thanks for the graph..it is going up on my Facebook for all to see.
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