Thread by @SaysSimulation

I saw a fascinating WSJ article on Boeing recently, that relates to this.

During the pandemic Boeing wanted to downsize, so being run by Excel-brains, they did a lot of it via early retirements. They got rid of a large portion of their most skilled labor without realizing
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that this would be a problem. I mean, labor is labor, the young ones are cheaper, so why not get rid of as many of the expensive old ones as possible?

It took them years to figure out what they had done - since the MBAs didn't understand how Boeing actually built its planes.
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They finally understand that they can't build planes because they got rid of too much skilled labor, while the new hires weren't good enough.

So, as part of their attempted quality cures, they are extending training times,
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and trying to use the older skilled labor they still have as mentors to train the new hires.

Of course, there is a lot more difference between the old and new hires than just experience, but the article didn't go into that.
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I suppose the other explanation is the oldest and most skilled labor were overwhelming white and male, and the younger ones were less so, so getting rid of the skilled labor allowed DEI goals to be achieved.

It was likely both, MBAs reducing expenses while hitting DEI goals.
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