Sekisui Aerospace issues layoffs for more than 100 as industry lags amid pandemic
An area aerospace supplier recently issued permanent layoffs to more than 100 workers, according to a notification sent Monday by the state’s Employment Security Department.
Sekisui Aerospace, with locations in Renton and Sumner, cut 111 workers from its payroll as of June 12, according to the Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification.
It was unclear how many of the cuts were tied to the Sumner site.
Last year, Sekisui acquired the Sumner facility, previously AIM Aerospace.
AIM had expanded in Sumner in 2018, relocating work previously done in Auburn and bringing 600 jobs.
Also in 2018, AIM was the beneficiary of a $125,000 grant from the state Department of Commerce to support the expansion and job creation at its sites in Sumner and Renton.
This year, Sekisui temporarily suspended most operations in Washington state starting March 26 in its response to the COVID-19 pandemic. About a month later, it placed hundreds of its workforce on a short-term furlough.
In May, media representative Jenise Hite told The Puget Sound Business Journal that the company had resumed full production.
The company makes composite parts for The Boeing Co. and Airbus SE, both of which have dramatically scaled back operations amid the downturn in demand for new jets.
Boeing last month announced involuntary layoffs of approximately 6,770 workers nationwide, the majority of whom are set to leave the company July 31. That’s in addition to about 5,520 workers approved for voluntary layoffs.
Of those totals, 5,798 workers in Washington state were among the July 31 involuntary layoff group.
In a letter to employees May 27 announcing the layoffs, Boeing President and CEO Dave Calhoun said that “signs of eventual recovery do not mean the global health and economic crisis is over.”
“Our industry will come back, but it will take some years to return to what it was just two months ago.”
This story was originally published June 16, 2020 at 12:03 PM.
