Short answer
Boeing had a total workforce of approximately 182,000 on December 31, 2025, according to its Form 10-K filed January 30, 2026, with 14% located outside the US. That's 10,000 more than a year earlier, mainly because Boeing acquired Spirit AeroSystems in December 2025; the 10-K says Spirit employs about 15,000 people. About 72,000 employees, or 40%, are union members. Boeing's 2026 quarterly reports don't give a newer count.
- Latest figure: about 182,000 on December 31, 2025, from the 2025 10-K, with 14% of the workforce outside the US.
- The December 2025 Spirit AeroSystems acquisition brought a business the 10-K says employs about 15,000 people.
- Union membership jumped to about 72,000, or 40% of the workforce, from 58,000 a year earlier.
- In 2020 Boeing recorded severance for about 26,000 employees, and its workforce fell from 161,100 to 141,000.
- Revenue per employee was about $491,600 in 2025 (our calculation), up from about $386,700 in the strike year of 2024.
On this page
This page is for sellers sizing Boeing as an account, suppliers, analysts and anyone who needs a Boeing headcount they can cite. Every figure comes from The Boeing Company's annual report on Form 10-K or its quarterly report on Form 10-Q, filed with the SEC. Boeing's fiscal year is the calendar year, and it reports its workforce once a year, as of December 31.
Boeing employees by year
| Year | As of | Total workforce | Outside the US | Union members | Change on prior year | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | December 31, 2025 | 182,000 | 14% | 72,000 | +10,000 (+5.8%) | 10-K filed January 30, 2026 |
| 2024 | December 31, 2024 | 172,000 | 15% | 58,000 | +1,000 (+0.6%) | 10-K filed February 3, 2025 |
| 2023 | December 31, 2023 | 171,000 | 14% | 57,000 | +15,000 (+9.6%) | 10-K filed January 31, 2024 |
| 2022 | December 31, 2022 | 156,000 | 13% | 50,000 | +14,000 (+9.9%) | 10-K filed January 27, 2023 |
| 2021 | December 31, 2021 | 142,000 | 12% | 47,000 | +1,000 (+0.7%) | 10-K filed January 31, 2022 |
| 2020 | December 31, 2020 | 141,000 | 11% | 47,000 | -20,100 (-12.5%) | 10-K filed February 1, 2021 |
| 2019 | December 31, 2019 | 161,100 | not reported | 57,000 | +8,100 (+5.3%) | 10-K filed January 31, 2020 |
| 2018 | December 31, 2018 | 153,000 | not reported | 54,000 | 10-K filed February 8, 2019 |
The filings give each figure as "approximately"; the changes are our arithmetic. Boeing's 10-Q reports for 2026, including the one for the quarter ended September 30, 2026, filed October 27, 2026, don't give a headcount, so the next figure is due with the 2026 10-K in early 2027.
What the number includes
- Boeing's "total workforce". The 2025 10-K says: "As of December 31, 2025, Boeing's total workforce was approximately 182,000 with 14% located outside of the U.S." It doesn't split full-time from part-time or say whether contractors are included. The same filing describes 72,000 union-represented employees as "40% of our total workforce," so it treats the workforce as employees.
- Spirit AeroSystems from December 8, 2025. The year-end count includes the Spirit business Boeing acquired: the Boeing-related commercial operations (737, P-8 and KC-46 fuselages and major structures for the 767, 777 and 787), Spirit's defense and aftermarket businesses and parts of its operations in Belfast.
- Not Digital Aviation Solutions. Boeing sold portions of that Global Services business on October 31, 2025, for $10.55 billion, so those employees left the count. The 10-K doesn't say how many there were.
- About 25,500 people outside the US (14% of 182,000, our arithmetic), so roughly 156,500 in the US. Boeing's 10-K doesn't publish a count by state or by business segment.
Unions
Union membership rose from 58,000 to about 72,000 in 2025, the year of the Spirit deal, and the 2025 union table lists agreements in Kansas and Oklahoma that the 2024 table didn't. The 10-K counts 32 agreements with nine unions in the US and agreements with 18 employee representative bodies outside it.
| Union | Share of total workforce | Main agreements (location, expiry) |
|---|---|---|
| International Association of Machinists (IAM) | 25% | District 70 (Kansas, June 2027); District 751 (Washington, September 2028); District 837 (Missouri, July 2030) |
| Society of Professional Engineering Employees in Aerospace (SPEEA) | 11% | Washington and Kansas contracts |
| United Auto Workers (UAW) | 1% | Locals 952 (Oklahoma) and 1069 (Pennsylvania) |
Two Washington SPEEA contracts were due to expire in October 2026. Boeing's third-quarter 10-Q says engineers and technicians voted on October 1, 2026 to ratify two new contracts running through 2030.
What changed and why
- 2019: growth despite the 737 MAX grounding. The workforce rose 8,100, to 161,100.
- 2020: the pandemic cut. "During 2020, we recorded severance costs for approximately 26,000 employees, of which approximately 18,000 have left the Company as of December 31, 2020," the 10-K says, with the rest expected to leave in 2021. The workforce fell 20,100, to 141,000.
- 2021 to 2023: the rebuild. The workforce grew by 30,000 in three years, to 171,000 at the end of 2023.
- 2024: a strike and a planned cut. IAM District 751 members, over 30,000 manufacturing employees mainly in Washington state, struck for 53 days from September 13, 2024, halting most commercial aircraft production. During the strike Boeing "implemented hiring freezes and announced plans to reduce our overall workforce," and it recorded $295 million of severance for employees expected to leave through involuntary terminations by the first half of 2025. The 10-K doesn't give a number of roles. The year-end count still rose 1,000.
- 2025: a second strike and Spirit. About 3,200 IAM District 837 employees at St. Louis area sites struck for 101 days, disrupting programs including the F/A-18, F-15 and T-7A. Then the Spirit acquisition closed on December 8, 2025. If all of Spirit's roughly 15,000 people are in the year-end count, Boeing's workforce excluding Spirit was about 167,000, some 5,000 below the end of 2024 (our arithmetic).
Revenue per employee
Boeing's 2025 revenues were $89,463 million. Divided by the year-end workforce, that's $89,463 million ÷ 182,000 = about $491,600 per employee (our calculation).
| Year | Revenues | Workforce | Revenue per employee (our calculation) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | $89.5 billion | 182,000 | about $491,600 |
| 2024 | $66.5 billion | 172,000 | about $386,700 |
| 2023 | $77.8 billion | 171,000 | about $454,900 |
| 2022 | $66.6 billion | 156,000 | about $427,000 |
| 2021 | $62.3 billion | 142,000 | about $438,600 |
The 2025 figure flatters slightly: Spirit's employees are in the year-end count, but Boeing consolidated only about three weeks of Spirit's results.
By segment, Commercial Airplanes brought in $41.5 billion in 2025, Defense, Space & Security $27.2 billion and Global Services $20.9 billion. The US government, primarily through the defense and services segments, accounted for 35% of revenue. Total backlog was $682 billion at the end of 2025, mostly commercial aircraft.
Selling to a company of Boeing's size
General guidance on how a 180,000-person aerospace manufacturer buys, not a description of Boeing's internal processes.
- Pick the segment. Commercial Airplanes, Defense, Space & Security and Global Services have different customers, budgets and rules. Defense work sits under federal contracting requirements; see selling to government.
- Lead with quality and safety. After the January 2024 door plug accident, the 10-Ks describe increased FAA oversight of Boeing's production and quality systems and investment in workforce training. Products that improve inspection, traceability or training fit stated priorities.
- Expect union work rules. With 40% of the workforce represented, changes on the factory floor involve labor agreements and their timetables.
- Plan a long cycle. Supplier qualification, security reviews and procurement come before a first order at a prime contractor.
For a research routine on an account this size, see enterprise account research. To compare Boeing with another prime, see Lockheed Martin's headcount.
Next step: see Boeing alongside the other primes on our list of the largest defense contractors.
Sources
- The Boeing Company Form 10-Q for the quarter ended September 30, 2026, The Boeing Company, via SEC EDGAR, 27 October 2026
- The Boeing Company Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2025, The Boeing Company, via SEC EDGAR, 30 January 2026
- The Boeing Company Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2024, The Boeing Company, via SEC EDGAR, 3 February 2025
- The Boeing Company Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2023, The Boeing Company, via SEC EDGAR, 31 January 2024
- The Boeing Company Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2022, The Boeing Company, via SEC EDGAR, 27 January 2023
- The Boeing Company Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2021, The Boeing Company, via SEC EDGAR, 31 January 2022
- The Boeing Company Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2020, The Boeing Company, via SEC EDGAR, 1 February 2021
- The Boeing Company Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2019, The Boeing Company, via SEC EDGAR, 31 January 2020
- The Boeing Company Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2018, The Boeing Company, via SEC EDGAR, 8 February 2019
Written by the Bebop team at Blackpearl Group. Published .
Questions people ask
How many employees does Boeing have in the US?
About 156,500, by our arithmetic: Boeing's 2025 10-K reports a total workforce of approximately 182,000 on December 31, 2025, with 14% located outside the US. That leaves roughly 86% in the US. Boeing's filings don't give a count by state or site, and the figure includes the Spirit AeroSystems business acquired in December 2025.
How many people did Boeing lay off?
Boeing's filings give one number: in 2020 it recorded severance costs for about 26,000 employees, about 18,000 of whom had left by year-end. In late 2024 it announced plans to reduce its overall workforce and recorded $295 million of severance for involuntary terminations through the first half of 2025, but the 10-K doesn't say how many roles that covered.
How many Boeing employees are in a union?
About 72,000, or 40% of its total workforce, on December 31, 2025, according to the 10-K. That's up from 58,000 a year earlier, after the Spirit AeroSystems acquisition. The Machinists union (IAM) represents 25% of the workforce, the engineers' union SPEEA 11% and the United Auto Workers 1%, across 32 agreements with nine US unions.
How many employees did Boeing get from Spirit AeroSystems?
Boeing's 2025 10-K says Spirit employs approximately 15,000 people. Boeing completed the acquisition on December 8, 2025, taking Spirit's Boeing-related commercial operations, its defense and aftermarket businesses and parts of its Belfast operations. Boeing's workforce rose 10,000 in 2025, to about 182,000, so the business it had before the deal shrank slightly during the year (our inference).
What is Boeing's revenue per employee?
About $491,600 in 2025, by our calculation: revenues of $89,463 million divided by a workforce of about 182,000 at year-end, both from Boeing's 10-K. In 2024, when a 53-day strike halted most commercial production, the same calculation gives about $386,700. Spirit's employees are in the 2025 count for the full figure but only three weeks of Spirit revenue are.