Dav8tor
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About 500 FedEx workers in Memphis are laid off today
By Wayne Risher
Originally published 12:02 p.m., April 3, 2009
Updated 12:22 p.m., April 3, 2009
FedEx laid off 1,000 workers today, including 500 in the Memphis area, as part of a previously announced plan to slash costs due to the global recession.
Spokesman Jess Bunn said the reductions affected all of FedEx's operating companies, which employ about 33,000 in the Memphis area and 290,000 globally.
The laid-off workers are salaried, exempt employees. Hourly workers weren't affected.
Workers were being offered severance packages, job counseling and the opportunity to apply for future job openings at FedEx before they’re advertised to outsiders, Bunn said.
The cuts hit disproportionately in Memphis, because the company's home base has the highest concentration of employees in facilities like the FedEx Express World Headquarters on Hacks Cross and the FedEx World Technology Center in Collierville.
The layoffs are part of an effort to trim $1 billion a year in expenses, announced during the company's third-quarter earnings report last month.
"We have have begun to reduce the workforce," Bunn said. "It is consistent with what we previously announced. We've had to reduce our network to match volumes and customer needs. It was a very tough decision. It was unavoidable because of the global recession."
The company reported last month that profits had nose-dived 75 percent from year-earlier levels, leading to earnings of 31 cents a share, significantly worse than the 48 cents a share that analysts predicted.
Profits from FedEx's Express, Ground, Freight and Services segments were $97 million on revenues of $8.1 billion for the three months ending Feb. 28, compared with $393 million, or $1.26 a share, on revenues of $9.44 billion a year earlier.
In addition to cutting the 1,000 jobs, FedEx officials said they would extend pay cuts to foreign employees, where possible, and make further adjustments in work hours and personnel on a location-by-location basis.
The $1 billion in cuts comes on the heels of other cost-cutting moves designed to keep the company profitable in a dismal economic environment. Since December, the FedEx Freight segment has laid off 1,440 workers.
In December, FedEx announced pay cuts for an estimated 14,000 workers in the Memphis area as part of an $800 million, 18-month belt-tightening effort. The company enacted a permanent, 5 percent pay cut for 36,000 salaried exempt employees nationwide and meted out larger cuts for top executives.
The company also suspended matching of 401(k) contributions, which affected hourly workers as well as salaried, exempt employees.
By Wayne Risher
Originally published 12:02 p.m., April 3, 2009
Updated 12:22 p.m., April 3, 2009
FedEx laid off 1,000 workers today, including 500 in the Memphis area, as part of a previously announced plan to slash costs due to the global recession.
Spokesman Jess Bunn said the reductions affected all of FedEx's operating companies, which employ about 33,000 in the Memphis area and 290,000 globally.
The laid-off workers are salaried, exempt employees. Hourly workers weren't affected.
Workers were being offered severance packages, job counseling and the opportunity to apply for future job openings at FedEx before they’re advertised to outsiders, Bunn said.
The cuts hit disproportionately in Memphis, because the company's home base has the highest concentration of employees in facilities like the FedEx Express World Headquarters on Hacks Cross and the FedEx World Technology Center in Collierville.
The layoffs are part of an effort to trim $1 billion a year in expenses, announced during the company's third-quarter earnings report last month.
"We have have begun to reduce the workforce," Bunn said. "It is consistent with what we previously announced. We've had to reduce our network to match volumes and customer needs. It was a very tough decision. It was unavoidable because of the global recession."
The company reported last month that profits had nose-dived 75 percent from year-earlier levels, leading to earnings of 31 cents a share, significantly worse than the 48 cents a share that analysts predicted.
Profits from FedEx's Express, Ground, Freight and Services segments were $97 million on revenues of $8.1 billion for the three months ending Feb. 28, compared with $393 million, or $1.26 a share, on revenues of $9.44 billion a year earlier.
In addition to cutting the 1,000 jobs, FedEx officials said they would extend pay cuts to foreign employees, where possible, and make further adjustments in work hours and personnel on a location-by-location basis.
The $1 billion in cuts comes on the heels of other cost-cutting moves designed to keep the company profitable in a dismal economic environment. Since December, the FedEx Freight segment has laid off 1,440 workers.
In December, FedEx announced pay cuts for an estimated 14,000 workers in the Memphis area as part of an $800 million, 18-month belt-tightening effort. The company enacted a permanent, 5 percent pay cut for 36,000 salaried exempt employees nationwide and meted out larger cuts for top executives.
The company also suspended matching of 401(k) contributions, which affected hourly workers as well as salaried, exempt employees.