Boeing’s CEO says the company will begin furloughing a large number of employees to save cash during a strike by union machinists.

The planemaker finds itself in an increasingly untenable situation with its finances so dire that it can ill afford a drawn-out paralysis.

The furloughs are part of sweeping cost-cutting measures Boeing announced this week as it continues negotiations with striking machinists.

Boeing top executive said Sept. 18 that the company will begin furloughing "a large number" of workers to conserve cash during the strike by union machinists that began last week. CEO Kelly Ortberg said the employees who would be required to take time off without pay starting in the coming days include executives,

Boeing is temporarily furloughing executives and other nonunion workers to save cash during the strike by 33,000 members of the International Association of Machinists, CEO Kelly Ortberg told employees in an email Wednesday.

Boeing is suspending the jobs of tens of thousands of staff in the US in response to a strike that has shut down production of some of its airplanes. The aerospace giant said US-based executives, managers and staff would be asked to take one week of furlough every four weeks as long as the stand-off lasts.

The aerospace giant said it would temporarily lay off tens of thousands of employees to stem losses from a walkout by the machinists’ union.

As the strike of 33,000 union machinists continues, Boeing employees got the news they feared: layoffs are coming.