I like to try not to post negative stuff, but this is pretty relevant to everyone at FedEx. It specifically says that it doesn't involve pilots.
http://www.gomemphis.com/mca/business/article/0,1426,MCA_440_2007000,00.html
By Dave Darnell
FedEx offers early out
Time to go for 14,000?
By Richard Thompson
[email protected]
June 3, 2003
FedEx Express is offering voluntary retirement or severance incentives to 14,000 U.S.-based employees, roughly 12 percent of its domestic workforce.
The incentives represent a first in the Memphis-based overnight air express delivery service's 30-year history and underscore the company's need to further reduce costs in the face of declining revenue that it has struggled with since before the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.
For FedEx Express employees, deciding whether to retire or be bought out places another heavy choice on top of other crucial decisions they must make this year. By the end of August, 137,000 eligible FedEx employees must also choose between two pension alternatives.
FedEx Express, the largest business unit of parent FedEx Corp., announced the retirement and buyout plan after the stock market closed Monday.
It is offering the voluntary incentives to salaried staff and management employees. FedEx Express employs 116,000 people in the United States.
The incentive programs are not being offered to nor do they affect hourly employees, including those at the Memphis superhub; customer service representatives; couriers; and pilots.
FedEx estimates the annual savings from these incentives at $150 million to $190 million, starting a year from now.
FedEx isn't speculating on how many workers in Memphis will accept retirement or severance. FedEx Express employs more than 30,000 in Memphis, many of whom work at the superhub at Memphis International Airport.
Besides the parent company, Memphis is also the headquarters for two other FedEx operating companies - FedEx Freight (the regional less-than-truckload unit) and FedEx Trade Networks (customs brokerage unit) - and FedEx Services, which provides support for all of the FedEx companies.
FedEx Ground, the ground small-package delivery unit, is based in Pittsburgh, Pa., and FedEx Custom Critical, the time-critical shipping unit, is based in Akron, Ohio.
On Sunday, FedEx's new cash balance pension plan went into effect for new employees but current employees eligible as of May 31 must decide by Aug. 29 whether the new plan or the traditional pension plan is best suited for their retirement needs.
FedEx spokesman Sandran Munoz said Monday that those who take voluntary retirement will get an extra month to make a decision about their pension plans.
Salaried employees who have five years of credited service and are at least 50 years old qualify for the voluntary retirement benefits under the plan announced Monday. Employees who want voluntary retirement have until Sept. 30 to elect that option.
The second option, a voluntary severance plan, is available to all salaried domestic FedEx Express employees regardless of age or tenure. Eligible workers have until Nov. 24 to decide.
Satish Jindel, a principal with SJ Consulting Group in Pittsburgh, said the incentive programs are in line with FedEx's philosophy of not laying off workers, but rewarding them.
Depending on the employee acceptance rates, FedEx said it expects a pretax charge for the incentives to be in the range of $230 million to $290 million in its fiscal 2004, which began Sunday. Most of the charge will be incurred in the first half of the fiscal year; about one-third of the pretax charge will be cash, the $22 billion company said.
FedEx said it expects to save $100 million to $130 million from these incentives, primarily in the second half of its fiscal year. To that end, it expects the net cost of the incentives to be $130 million to $160 million in fiscal 2004.
The voluntary incentives are expected to affect FedEx's fiscal 2004 earnings by 25 cents to 30 cents a share, the company said.
Analysts said rumors have been circulating for some time about the need for further cuts at FedEx Express.
FedEx Express has seen negative growth in domestic package volume since the December 2000-February 2001 quarter. Volume level hit bottom in the July-September period of 2001, dropping 10.5 percent. Since then, it has improved, falling 0.7 percent in the December 2002-February 2003 quarter.
U.S. shipments accounted for 88 percent of FedEx Express's average daily volume in its fiscal third quarter, ended Feb. 28.
FedEx's chief rival, United Parcel Service Inc., saw its next-day air volume rise 3.9 percent in the first quarter of the year; but analysts say that is offset by FedEx's growing market share for ground shipments, a key component of UPS business.
FedEx Corp. chairman Frederick W. Smith, notes that international express, small package ground and heavy freight have fueled FedEx with "impressive" growth rates as its hallmark business has suffered because of the economy.
"In recent years, FedEx has pursued a strategy to expand and diversify its portfolio of services," Smith said in a statement Monday.
"This strategy has enabled the company to perform well during these challenging economic times by growing our revenue 10 percent and earnings per share by 17 percent for the first nine months of fiscal year 2003.
"By operating our networks independently, we have the flexibility to expand or contract each network as customer demand or business conditions dictate," he added.
Over the past few years, FedEx Express has managed its costs through a hiring freeze, reducing aircraft orders, consolidating facilities and reducing discretionary spending. The voluntary incentives are "yet another step," said David Bronczek, FedEx Express's president and chief executive officer.
FedEx realizes that the U.S. express delivery business it created 30 years ago has matured and now will only grow as fast as the national gross domestic product, said Arthur Hatfield, an analyst with Morgan Keegan & Co.
"It's a mature company," said Hatfield. "Over the past few years, they have built a pretty large bureaucracy. . . . It (the need for fewer employees) just happens when companies get larger."
Going forward, FedEx said it expects the U.S. economy to remain sluggish in the fiscal first quarter, but the economic picture will likely improve as the year progresses.
FedEx cited improving financial markets, the recently approved tax stimulus package and improved consumer confidence among other factors behind its outlook.
Although FedEx has said it sees significant increases in health care and pension costs in fiscal 2004, the company said it should earn 52 cents to 60 cents per diluted share in the fiscal first quarter - excluding the cost of the incentives.
FedEx's stock price finished normal trading hours at $64.61, up 63 cents. At one point Monday, the stock struck a 52-week high