Closures and layoffs continue to come as FedEx restructures and consolidates its business.
The company plans to cease operations at four facilities in North Carolina and South Carolina on September 3. In North Carolina, the logistics giant plans to close the doors on its Hickory Ship Center, cutting 69 jobs, according to a WARN notice filed with the state.
In South Carolina, FedEx is slated to eliminate 134 roles in West Columbia, 57 roles in Myrtle Beach and 50 roles in Florence upon closing a Ship Center in each of those three cities, the state’s WARN notice records show.
A spokesperson for FedEx said some of those employees will be offered positions at nearby FedEx facilities that have been spared from this round of closures.
“Decisions of this nature are never made lightly, and are the result of much thought and consideration for the needs of our business. Affected team members were notified several months before any changes take place, and are receiving assistance with finding other employment opportunities within the company, including additional support options like relocation assistance or severance where applicable,” the spokesperson said in a statement.
FedEx announced in 2022 that it had plans to bring an additional distribution center to Horry County, South Carolina, which it built on a site that formerly housed an amusement park. That facility, according to South Carolina records, has not been impacted by these closures.
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The four closures in the Carolinas are far from the only sign of trouble at FedEx, which announced earlier this month it has plans to axe about 2,000 jobs in Europe. It said earlier this year it would shutter four other Ship Centers in Florida.
In April, FedEx announced it had lost its contract with the United States Postal Service (USPS) after “extensive discussions,” noting that the two entities failed to come to mutual agreements on the future of their relationship. The contract officially terminates at the end of September, at which point USPS will shift its business to FedEx competitor United Parcel Service (UPS).
FedEx has been on an aggressive quest to cut $4 billion dollars’ worth of expenses by 2025, and expects to remove an additional $2 billion in expenses by 2027 under what it calls its Drive initiative. To do so, it consolidated FedEx Express, FedEx Services and FedEx Ground, among other cost-cutting measures.
On a March earnings call, the company’s CFO, John Dietrich, told shareholders that the company had eliminated close to 22,000 roles in the 12 months prior, telling investors they should “expect additional opportunities in the future” as part of FedEx’s “responsible headcount management” initiatives. The company is expected to announce its Q4 earnings for fiscal year 2024 on Tuesday evening.