Boeing plans to hire around 10,000 workers in 2023 as it bounces back from the pandemic, report says

• Boeing is set to hire 10,000 workers this year amid its post-pandemic recovery, Reuters reported.
• The planemaker boosted its workforce by 15,000 in 2022 after it axed around 16,000 workers in 2020.
• Boeing's CEO said the company had made meaningful progress in its recovery but challenges remained.

Boeing is set to hire almost 10,000 employees in 2023 amid its post-pandemic recovery, Reuters reported.

The planemaker said the growth would mostly be in its business units, and engineering and manufacturing divisions, per the report. However, it planned to cut some existing staff roles within support functions.

The announcement comes days after it posted its fourth-quarter 2022 results. The company had made meaningful progress in its post-pandemic recovery but challenges remain, president and CEO Dave Calhoun said Wednesday in a press release.

Calhoun added: "We generated more than $3 billion in free cash flow in the fourth quarter, driven by progress in our performance and strong demand. This helped us generate positive full-year free cash flow for the first time since 2018, an important metric in our recovery."

Boeing grew its workforce by almost 15,000 workers last year and its headcount in the US is around 156,000 employees, the company told Insider.

The Virginia-headquartered company cut its workforce by 10% - around 16,000 workers - during the pandemic as losses mounted. It reported a loss of $2.4 billion in its second-quarter results in 2020 as the pandemic ravaged the aviation industry.

The company said in 2020 it would slow production of its 787 and 777 models and postponed increasing its 737 Max output as demand declined.

Boeing is not the only aircraft maker boosting its workforce. In a Thursday press release, Airbus announced plans on Thursday to hire 13,000 employees this year to help its "commercial aircraft ramp-up."

The company, which has 130,000 employees, said 9,000 of the roles would be based in Europe and the remainder in its global network.

Boeing told Insider in a statement: "While we plan to grow the total workforce in 2023, we will continue to simplify our corporate structure and expect lower staffing within some support functions so that we can best align our resources in direct support of our products, services and technology development efforts."