From a couple of weeks ago;
ROCKFORD — UPS is laying off 100 part-time package handlers at its Rockford air hub, citing decreased volume because of the recession.
Some workers were told last week, others will learn this week, but all are immediate, spokeswoman Christine Hand said.
As demand for UPS’ air delivery service has dropped, the company has sent a higher percentage of its packages through its biggest U.S. air hub, Worldport in Louisville, Ky.
“The downturn in the economy is what’s driving the network changes. That’s the biggest factor,” Hand said. “We’re always looking for efficiencies and Worldport just happens to be one of those efficiencies.”
In the past year, UPS has used Worldport more as a central hub, “with less reliance on regional hubs,” Hand said.
But that’s not permanent, she said, and laid-off workers can be called back.
“As volume increases networkwide, that would increase the number of jobs that are brought back to Rockford,” Hand said.
The layoffs are in addition to the 600 part-timers who were hired to handle the heavier shipping loads during the peak holiday season.
Hand said UPS laid off a smaller number of part-time workers in 2009, but couldn’t confirm the amount today.
UPS has nearly 1,000 part-time workers at the hub at Chicago Rockford International Airport. It also has 500 full-timers, who are not affected by the cuts.
UPS received $24 million in state tax credits recently, and promised to invest $91 million between Rockford and its larger ground-sorting facility in Hodgkins by the end of 2012.
The tax credits were tied to protecting the full-time jobs at both facilities, not part-time positions. Hand said the layoffs don’t affect UPS’ deal with the state.
When UPS officials were in Rockford last month, they said the hub here remains important to their long-term plans.
In 2006, UPS invested $25 million to update equipment and expand sorting capacity at the Rockford hub. UPS is the main reason Rockford is the 19th largest cargo airport in the country.