DHL Express will cut 600 jobs

DHL Express USA said it plans to reduce its U.S. workforce by about 600 positions, through reduction, attrition and suspension of some open jobs.

The company said the decision was part of a broader strategy to lower general and administrative costs across its U.S. Express delivery business in light of the current economic climate and market demands.

These changes will help us better align our cost structure without impacting our unwavering commitment to serve our US customers, said Hans Hickler, chief executive officer of DHL Express USA.

 

In January DHL's parent Deutsche Post took a 600 million euro ($875 million) non-cash write off on Express Americas assets.

But the company said it still expected "to make consistent progress in underlying profit and to reach earnings before interest and tax of 900 million to 1.1 billion euros ($1.3 billion-$1.6 billion) by 2009.

The Miami Herald said the cuts amount to less than 3 percent of the company's 21,000-person U.S. workforce.

Deutsche Post entered the U.S. domestic market in 2002 with the purchase of DHL as a platform for ground operations, and acquired Airborne Express in 2003 as an overnight air express unit.

Since 2005 DHL has invested more than $1.2 billion to expand its delivery network, but has faced tough competition from FedEx, UPS and the U.S. Postal Service, and has lost hundreds of millions of dollars in each of the past four years.

Last month, FT Deutschland, the Financial Times sister paper, reported that the German postal and logistics group is discussing the sale of the struggling DHL express unit to FedEx.

But a company spokesman Jonathan Baker said:There is no question of our exiting the U.S. business. We're committed to serving our U.S. customers.

Source:American Shipper