In 1989, Boeing employment in the Puget Sound region was at a record high of over 106,000 workers. In the early 1990s, amid a national recession and increased competition from Airbus, Boeing’s European competitor, the Boeing Company announced a 36% reduction to commercial aircraft production and a cut of 19,000 jobs in the region.

In this photo, Boeing workers are shown leaving the 747 plant at a shift change on the day the layoff plan was announced. While production cuts for the 747 would not take effect until mid-1994, many workers feared that their jobs could be lost to more senior workers from other Boeing plants in the region.

Caption information source: “Boeing and Washington's Aerospace Industry, 1934-2015,” by Jim Kershner, HistoryLink.org essay 11111.
Caption information source: “Boeing to cut 19,000 jobs here in the next 18 months,” Seattle Post-Intelligencer: February 19, 1993, p. A1.
Caption information source:“Low-seniority Workers Expect Jobs Won’t Survive,” Seattle Post-Intelligencer: February 19, 1993, p. A1