Boeing Has Laid Off 4,000 This Year — So Far

Chicago’s Boeing, which announced in January plans to lay off a total of 10,000 workers in 2009, has eliminated 4,000 positions so far.

The company’s total employment on April 30th was 160,000, down 3,000 since April 2008. And 1,000 vacancies have been left unfilled.

The Boeing Company is a major aerospace and defense corporation, originally founded by William E. Boeing in 1916 in Seattle, Washington. Boeing has expanded over the years, merging with McDonnell Douglas in 1997. Its international headquarters has been in Chicago, Illinois since 2001. Boeing is the largest global aircraft manufacturer by revenue, orders and deliveries, and the second-largest aerospace and defense contractor in the world.