>>>IMHO, the shift to defined contribution plans has resulted from the longer life expectancy that we now enjoy. Even social security, when it was introduced, was not meant to be collected by the majority of people, nor was it intended to be paid out to an individual for 30 years. Of course, social security faces the same problems as DB plans - it is not sustainable.
>>
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>>That might be a factor, but the shift has also cut employee pension costs to corporations by hundreds of billions of dollars.
>>Clearly stated that means that hundreds of billions of dollars previously spent by corporations to fund employee pensions is no longer being spent.
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>>There can only be one of two results:
>>a- employees get lower retirement benefits
>>b- employees make up for the lost contributions themselves.
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>>In either case the corporations have shifted hundreds of billions of dollars away from employees to corporate profits.
>
>Pretty certain to be true if viewed as integer numbers. But if viewed as percentages, are you certain that the picture is that bleak (re: downturn) or if can be viewed as a measure to stabilize a growing percentage at a calculable level?

Good question, Thomas.
There is absolutely no doubt that after Boeing implements this plan, it will be spending LESS money, and a LOWER percentages of total expenses on employee pensions.
That shreds the notion that longevity is the issue.
If longevity or rate of return were the issues, Boeing could have said "We'll keep contributing the same amount, adjusted for inflation, but benefits will have to come down unless some of you start dying more quickly or we figure out how to get a higher return on our reserves."
They didn't do that.
Instead they said.. "You'll have to fund a large portion of your retirement yourself and also pay the fees of the thieves that manage it. We'll add a small portion of what we're paying now."

Your point about low interest rates is a good one and it's a factor.
But the real driver here is the power shift between employees and capital.
Forty years ago, companies like Boeing would have done anything to keep employees happy.
Globalization, automation and other factors have shifted the power to capital and the Boeing employees really have no say here.