Dive Brief:
- FedEx Freight will enact another round of temporary furloughs in some U.S. markets “to align our workforce with operational requirements,” a company spokesperson confirmed in an email to Transport Dive Friday.
- Some employees will be offered permanent transfers to other markets where the company has hiring needs, and furloughed workers will continue to receive benefits and other financial incentives, the company said.
- The company did not say how many workers would be furloughed. The furlough period will last from March 5 to May 27.
Dive Insight:
As the company’s LTL carrier promised in November during its most recent round of furloughs in November, it said it would bring back furloughed employees “as business circumstances allow.”
Those circumstances have prompted others in LTL and the broader logistics world to cut their labor costs, too.
XPO offered furloughs to workers over the holidays, and Old Dominion Freight Line executives acknowledged during the company’s Q4 earnings call last week that they had made “headcount adjustments” and reduced some workers’ hours.
Meanwhile, logistics giant C.H. Robinson is planning additional job cuts this year, following an earlier round of layoffs in November.
FedEx Freight employed approximately 47,000 people as of May 31. But more than 12,000 workers have lost their jobs or left through attrition since its fiscal year began in June 2022, as plummeting demand pressured the company's performance, particularly during the holidays.
The logistics giant has focused on boosting revenues per package to compensate for lower volumes, part of President and CEO Raj Subramaniam’s $2 billion “Network 2.0” initiative to consolidate resources and boost profitability.
Sarah Zimmerman contributed to this article.
