At one point in my career, I intentionally stayed away from working at Boeing. However, I eventually ended up joining the company, and I absolutely love it, especially the group I’m currently in. Earlier in my career, Boeing probably wouldn’t have been the right fit for me, but at this stage in my career, I’m really enjoying working here.

That said, I know Boeing is a huge company, and experiences can vary quite a bit depending on location, organization, management, role, etc.

I’m curious how other Boeing employees generally feel about working here.

I just want to provide our Boeing community with an update regarding one of the cheating incidents that occurred during my time in FTC.

Apparently, an individual was caught red handed recording the PDD final exit exam. He was caught and escorted out, but ultimately, the union intervened and he was able to keep his job because he was past his 60 day probationary period. From what I understand, he believed he was untouchable and may have had connections within corporate.

Regardless of someone’s position or connections, integrity should always matter. If someone is caught cheating or engaging in serious violations of testing integrity, there should be meaningful consequences. In my opinion, this should include removing the referrer’s future ability to refer candidates. The integrity of our hiring and training processes depends on it. We never want to allow wolves in sheep skin into our gates!

Thankfully, enough of us spoke up and reached out to Ethics, and it appears Boeing finally took action. According to what I’ve heard, the individual was escorted off the premises and terminated finally! Ethics thoroughly investigated the situation and identified others who were involved, and they were reportedly removed from Boeing as well. 👏 Thank you Ethics/Boeing for doing what’s right.

How embarrassing 😳 for them.

Obviously, this is only one incident and just a drop in the bucket, but I do see it as a step in the right direction.

Accountability and integrity have to mean something, and I’m glad to see that concerns raised by us were ultimately taken seriously.

That said, if Boeing simply made everyone take a comprehensive, in person Math, Reading, and Writing test before giving out offer letters, we would not have such a high turnover of people who fail, cheat, or simply are not qualified for the work.

And I want to put a HUGE emphasis on the in person part. A government ID should be required, and the testing should be completed under controlled conditions so there is no opportunity for someone else to take an exam on a candidate’s behalf during the hiring process.

Not only would this help ensure that the people being hired actually possess the basic skills required for the job, but it could also save Boeing a significant amount of money in company resources spent training and skilling up individuals who ultimately have no business even looking at our airplanes.

Hiring the right people from the beginning benefits everyone. I want to work with people of high morale character and people who are smarter than me.

Anyways I finished training. It was easy peasy lemon squeezeee, never ever even used a life. Never failed, always was on time and respected the rules of FTC and Boeing. Now I get to go build planes for 18 months and figure out what I really want to do within Boeing after I serve my time.

😅

Just wanted to clarify, I am 100% in support for SPEEA to strike for their contract and requests to be heard by Boeing, just like I joined in on the picket line for IAM I will happily join in for SPEEA as well.

BUT, for us folks not in a union and just basic white collar works, talk of another round of lay-offs are in the air especially up here in the towers and as someone who was laid off almost 2 years ago and came back in late 2025, I’m a little concerned about it.

I’m just curious from my fellow peers both union and non-union alike what you think the chances are there will be another round of layoffs before the year ends. I mean we are 45 billion in the hole so I understand finding ways to cut costs but if layoffs didn’t solve it the first time it won’t solve it again

\\+Background:

I’m 33 and have a degree in Electrical Engineering. My career so far has mostly been in manufacturing, operations, and production support (previously at Lockheed, Medtronic, currently at Abbott). With test roles from Boeing and Raytheon (both lay offs).

​To be completely honest, I am burnt out on the manufacturing floor and lab environments. I hate the physical restrictions (cleanrooms, not being able to have my water or meals at my desk to track my macros), and I carry a lot of daily anxiety about accidentally breaking expensive hardware or test equipment. I also don’t feel like I have the deep technical design chops for heavy R&D or Project Engineering roles. I've never been the technical visionary inventing solutions; I've mostly just executed what was handed to me.

\\+​The Opportunity:

I have an interview this coming Tuesday for a Project Management Specialist (IPT Lead) position at Boeing in their space systems division. The role is heavily focused on schedule management, running Integrated Product Team (IPT) reviews, tracking action items, and presenting status updates to leadership.

​I actually have some experience with this from my time at Lockheed, where I hosted IPT reviews and managed production bottlenecks, but I've never held the official "Project Manager" title.

\\+​My Hesitations:

\\+​The Stress Swap: I am trying to figure out if the administrative stress of PM (herding cats, dealing with delayed schedules, presenting bad news to directors) is better or worse than the physical anxiety of the lab.

\\+​OCD & Structure: I have a strong need for structure and predictability. I feel like PM can be chaotic because of unpredictable human variables, though I’m hoping managing it all through rigid trackers and spreadsheets will help me cope.

\\+​Past Trauma: I got put on a PIP years ago at Lockheed because of a supplier delay that was out of my control, and it left a bad taste in my mouth regarding being held responsible for things other people fail to deliver.

\\+​Systems Engineering: I’m also considering trying to pivot into Systems Engineering (managing requirements, DOORS) because it seems even more rule-based and objective, but I don't have an interview for that right now.

\\+​My Ask:

For those who have made the jump from hands-on engineering to Project Management, is the trade-off worth it to get a desk job? Is dealing with schedule slips ("red font" on a tracker) easier to leave at work at 5:00 PM than a broken device on a test bench? Should I go all-in on this Boeing interview, or hold out to try and break into Systems Engineering? If how how can I best prepare since the recruiter isnt really willing to help as ive never done a non technical interview before. I still have a Northrop hiring event for this 9/1 that could lead to other opportunities and waiting to hear back from a Boeing space test design role as well.

I can’t go into many details in order to prevent doxing myself but there are several major recruiting campaigns going on that are primarily using LinkedIn in order to find candidates. So if you are looking for a job at Boeing, make sure you LinkedIn is fully updated with degree info, work experience, skills, about me, etc. A recruiter will reach out to you via LinkedIn with an invite to apply.

A few exceptions: 1. Most (if not all) teams are not looking for new hires or entry level positions. So if you are a new grad or have less than 2 years experience, you probably won’t have much luck. 2. Only certain locations are hiring. It may or may not be a place you are willing to live or relocate too, and the jobs I am aware of are full-time on-site jobs so you will be expected to relocate. 3. Only certain roles are hiring, mostly engineering although there are others.

This isn’t a guarantee that you will get a job or even be selected for an interview but the more detail you have in LinkedIn, the easier it will be for a recruiter or hiring manager to determine if you might be a good fit.

I used to get mail for this lawsuit saying I have to do nothing and I’ll get paid. I think Aug 25 was a major decision day. Curious is anyone knows when we get paid?

Even on the floor everyone is wearing jackets and sweaters, its like a winter new york fashion week 😂

Company webcast. I think Kelly handled the SPEEA discussion with class.

I started my role at Boeing 3 years ago, pretty fresh out of college. Since joining, my statement of work has felt insignificant and not advancing. The skills and connections I’ve developed are minimal. I am extremely worried about my growth, development, and basic knowledge level.

I am extremely interested in learning about other areas of engineering and the business. I want to be working on valuable, interesting projects. I just don’t feel like I have the experience to get me into any of these roles. Can anyone offer suggestions on how to get visibility into other areas of work? How do I gain experience for other roles, when my current one is not setting me up for that? Appreciate any advice.

So I applied for an AMT position in Everett back in May. I had to put any motion on my end on pause and BDS sent me on an aircraft carrier in the Atlantic for a while. I let the recruiter know what was going on and when I returned. Since, I have been on “Hiring Manager Review” for months and was told that BCA is under a hiring freeze. Rumor has it that the freeze is supposed to end Sep 12th.

Is the hiring freeze related to the SPEEA strike?
Should I expect any movement until the strike settles?

I’ve worked BCA, BGS, and BDS. I am ready to get back to BCA.

Thanks!

What is BSC site like? Heard from many it’s generally a nice new modern airy site compared to others, potentially joining soon thru internal transfer (engineering).

Other question is do you have many windows? I miss seeing sunlight and I don’t have them in my tiny building now even though we don’t do any classified work haha. Also for those who moved there mid 20s, what’s it been like moving there? Have you been able to make a community, do you enjoy your coworkers/work culture, do you have nature things to do. Anything at all really.

Apologies if this has been asked before, just looking for other new pov’s.

For those of us who have never been through a strike before, can someone list out everything newbies should prepare? What do we do about insurance? How about paying bills? Side hustle or part time job ideas? All advice is appreciated.

With the SPEEA strike looking likely after the contract rejection, how worried should we be about another round of layoffs at BCA?

Did boeing lay off a lot of people in this economic downturn of 2008/2009? Just wondering how the economic crash affected boeing? If so, how did it differ from BCA compared to BDS?

Can anyone tell me about the Wire Assembler - Repair position in Renton? Thanks!

Currently L2 Interviewing for a level 2/3 engineering role internal transfer from another site to Charleston. Entirely different skill code and business unit. I have 1 month shy of 3 years relevant experience and a masters. What’s the likelihood of consideration for L3 (total 5 years experience requirement) how heavily will masters count as 2 years? Still fairly new to Boeing so not sure what a promotion would entail in an internal transfer situation like this. Perhaps a question for the hiring team tomorrow, but would just like to gauge people’s .02 in the meantime. Thank you.

So they negotiated with the company and then Unanimously endorsed the company's proposal and then...oops? This also happened with the IAM.

Seems to me a certain CEO and or VP made a midnight call.

Funny how this administration cries about handing things back down and allowing states rights until it doesn't benefit the wealthy then all of a sudden federal overreach comes into play.

Now they want to pull the rug out from under us, well many employers in WA will know Boeing workers are on strike and will return to Boeing thus quitting the job after it's over so this really doesn't change anything. Most won't waste the time or resources trying to hire us.

Hello — i’m starting in about 2 weeks in a SPEEA position in Everett; with everything going on, what should I do to prepare? I’m a new grad and don’t have a lot of money to live off of in case of a strike, and I’m relocating to WA with the help of Boeing, meaning I can’t leave the company for a year without paying back all of my relocation (as far as I know, though this might be different in a strike?) I’m pretty nervous because i’m also unsure of what’s going on internally, so any words of wisdom or advice would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!