Major Furlough at Express?

[thedownhillEXPRESS]

One thing I’ve learned over the years is never to underestimate how stupid their plans are and they nearly never come to fruition .

 

[fedx]

You won’t need all those employees when we move over to ground. Contractors might need some help though.

I agree that they are planning on moving almost all Express pickups and deliveries to Ground, but I don't see that being implemented all at once. I don't see Jan 7th it happening on that day. It will happen, but will take years. Just like the Leo transition took 2 or 3 years to implement company wide. I see Express going to Ground being done a few stations at a time that will probably take 3-5 years to fully implement.

 

[yadig]

It’s not getting fixed. Just ride the ship to the bottom of the ocean. I suggest becoming an RTD, so at least when everything explodes you have a plan B in your wallet.

I agree that they are planning on moving almost all Express pickups and deliveries to Ground, but I don't see that being implemented all at once. I don't see Jan 7th it happening at once. It will happen, but will take years. Just like the Leo transition took 2 or 3 years to implement company wide. I see Express going to Ground being done a few stations at a time that will probably take 3-5 years to fully implement.

I don’t think the shareholders are gonna be that patient.

 

[SFFX]

One thing I’ve learned over the years is never to underestimate how stupid their plans are and they nearly never come to fruition .

You are correct.

 

[Operational needs]

Yea I didn't know that, I'll remember for next time 🫡

Unfortunately, I had to find out the hard way when I took LWOP as a PTer for the first, and last time. Lol.

 

[Bald1der]

Although the sentiment seems to be that volume is in a slump, the long term trend is that the volumes and stop counts will grow, meanwhile labor is going to become more scarce. Express probably has what 200k available bodies, built in and ready to do the work? I just can’t imagine the company pissing off, alienating, and forcing out a massive qualified labor force.

Even a first year full time express courier will make $50k, with the straight numerical average being, what? $70 something? Telling some, most, or all of these workers to go work for a ground contractor for half would be telling them to quit and work for a different corporation or industry. Leaving that body and skill gone.

Again, I believe that FedEx will try, but everything I’ve seen this company do in my tenure is a failure in the long run, or they have to seriously move the goalpost and call it a win.

 

[Operational needs]

That’s the only reason I could see them offering voluntary furloughs (the Freight furloughs are voluntary) or station transfers… because Response is ending. And a lot of stations hired a lot of people to run response routes. When those routes disappear, there are going to be a good amount of Express couriers with nothing to do.

I highly doubt Express would offer furloughs. That’s a dirty word at Express. If anything, they’ll probably eliminate the Response routes and those people will become displaced. They’ll have 90 days to find a job somewhere in the company, which if their plan works, will fill the major holes in understaffed stations while not using that dirty word “furlough” or “layoff”. The people unwilling to transfer/move will just lose their jobs.

 

[Bald1der]

I highly doubt Express would offer furloughs. That’s a dirty word at Express. If anything, they’ll probably eliminate the Response routes and those people will become displaced. They’ll have 90 days to find a job somewhere in the company, which if their plan works, will fill the major holes in understaffed stations while not using that dirty word “furlough” or “layoff”. The people unwilling to transfer/move will just lose their jobs.

I honestly welcome this. The station operation has become absurdly unwieldy. It seems as if we’re understaffed, when in reality we have a dozen open routes that people refuse to take. We have part timers getting 13 hours, full timers working 6, response people that want to claw onto getting 9 hours a day doing 30 stops. So even without “layoffs” stations will become leaner.

 

[It will be fine]

Although the sentiment seems to be that volume is in a slump, the long term trend is that the volumes and stop counts will grow, meanwhile labor is going to become more scarce. Express probably has what 200k available bodies, built in and ready to do the work? I just can’t imagine the company pissing off, alienating, and forcing out a massive qualified labor force.

Even a first year full time express courier will make $50k, with the straight numerical average being, what? $70 something? Telling some, most, or all of these workers to go work for a ground contractor for half would be telling them to quit and work for a different corporation or industry. Leaving that body and skill gone.

Again, I believe that FedEx will try, but everything I’ve seen this company do in my tenure is a failure in the long run, or they have to seriously move the goalpost and call it a win.

Why would express tell workers to work for a Ground contractor? Why would you think Ground contractors would automatically offer them employment? Contractors run independent businesses, Express drivers would not likely be a good fit at most Ground contractor companies. I’ve hired a few former Express drivers, they don’t work out, too soft.

 

[SmithBarney]

We've been told that 2nd Wave/Response routes are going away in Jan... so for the 20-30 drivers their only option is to find a AM position.. but they won't get that option until Jan, unless there are open positions.

 

[MassWineGuy]

What about all those already with a.m. jobs?

And there will always be afternoon/evening pickups. That’s what I was doing before Response.

 

[McFeely]

And there will always be afternoon/evening pickups. That’s what I was doing before Response.

Not if they send them to Ground.

 

[yadig]

Why would express tell workers to work for a Ground contractor? Why would you think Ground contractors would automatically offer them employment? Contractors run independent businesses, Express drivers would not likely be a good fit at most Ground contractor companies. I’ve hired a few former Express drivers, they don’t work out, too soft.

You’re so full of

 

[MassWineGuy]

Not if they send them to Ground.

This would take some time.

 

[MAKAVELI]

I highly doubt Express would offer furloughs. That’s a dirty word at Express. If anything, they’ll probably eliminate the Response routes and those people will become displaced. They’ll have 90 days to find a job somewhere in the company, which if their plan works, will fill the major holes in understaffed stations while not using that dirty word “furlough” or “layoff”. The people unwilling to transfer/move will just lose their jobs.

If they eliminate your position that is essentially a layoff. If a position is not available in your location and you either have to relocate or find employment elsewhere that is a layoff. FedEx can call it whatever they want but unemployment benefits will be there for those in this position.

 

[bacha29]

Why would express tell workers to work for a Ground contractor? Why would you think Ground contractors would automatically offer them employment? Contractors run independent businesses, Express drivers would not likely be a good fit at most Ground contractor companies. I’ve hired a few former Express drivers, they don’t work out, too soft.

"Too soft".. Translation:.....Pay not on par with workload demands. And the biggest encumbrance to contractor efforts to recruit new workers?.....Word of mouth....And no word travels faster among employment circles than word of a bad employer with a bad deal.

 

[It will be fine]

"Too soft".. Translation:.....Pay not on par with workload demands. And the biggest encumbrance to contractor efforts to recruit new workers?.....Word of mouth....And no word travels faster among employment circles than word of a bad employer with a bad deal.

Too soft means unable to do the job. I’ve hired 3 or 4 former or current Express drivers over the last few years. They can’t do the job. It is too difficult for them, pay doesn’t make a difference. The pay I offer is more than they were making at Express or they wouldn’t have accepted the job. They couldn’t handle the work to earn that pay. Sorry that reality conflicts with your narrative.

 

[MAKAVELI]

Too soft means unable to do the job. I’ve hired 3 or 4 former or current Express drivers over the last few years. They can’t do the job. It is too difficult for them, pay doesn’t make a difference. The pay I offer is more than they were making at Express or they wouldn’t have accepted the job. They couldn’t handle the work to earn that pay. Sorry that reality conflicts with your narrative.

If they came from Express, they couldn't handle Express either. You just got Express rejects. I don't know of anyone actually leaving Express for Ground. UPS yeah but not Ground.

 

[bacha29]

Too soft means unable to do the job. I’ve hired 3 or 4 former or current Express drivers over the last few years. They can’t do the job. It is too difficult for them, pay doesn’t make a difference. The pay I offer is more than they were making at Express or they wouldn’t have accepted the job. They couldn’t handle the work to earn that pay. Sorry that reality conflicts with your narrative.

You're trying to tell us that you pay more per hour with a comparable employer paid benefit package than a topped out Express courier? And don't try to give us that pay per stop times stops per hour divided by the number of hours worked that day > We're way passed that little con your playing.

 

[It will be fine]

You're trying to tell us that you pay more per hour with a comparable employer paid benefit package than a topped out Express courier? And don't try to give us that pay per stop times stops per hour divided by the number of hours worked that day > We're way passed that little con your playing.

You think people applied for and accepted my job offer for less money that they were making at Express? They tried my job because it pays more, they couldn’t handle the work and went back to Express. They were too soft.