Workers To Be Idled In The March 23 - May 29 Timeframe

Textron has announced it will idle 7,000 workers for a month due to the Coronavirus pandemic.

The Wichita Eagle reports that most of the layoffs will come from the company's factory in Wichita.

In a statement, Textron said that the company "has been taking increased action with such measures as limiting large group meetings, increasing daily cleaning of its facilities, restricting travel, and canceling our participation in several global meetings and events,” said a statement from the company. “Today we announced we are implementing a four-week furlough for most of our U.S. based employees, to be taken during the Monday, March 23 through Friday, May 29 timeframe.

“This decision will allow us to do our part in mitigating and containing the spread of the COVID-19 through social distancing, while continuing to support our customers.”

Textron also said it will be "adjusting production" as demand for aircraft falls.

Last year, Textron laid off hundreds of employees, mostly engineers and other professionals, due to the completion of the design and testing of the Longitude business jet. The company said at the time they were anticipating to increase staff on its production lines.

Wichita was also hit by a layoff of about 2,800 jobs at Spirit Aerosystems related to the grounding of the Boeing 737 MAX airliners.

FMI: Source report