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Flexport slashes 20% of global workforce over weak 2023 volume forecast

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Re: Flexport slashes 20% of global workforce over weak 2023 volume forecast

#91

Post by zitterbewegung »

dakiol wrote: post #86

Perhaps I'm naive, but I think companies are doing massive layoffs these days because of some sort of "domino effect". There are companies out there who would love to lay off half their staff, but in regular times they couldn't just do it (because it wasn't a common thing, and makes them look "bad"... everyone would protest). But since nowadays every damn company is doing massive layoffs (and not unknown companies, b…

You are naive they just want to rehire positions at lower rates if you see in the article they are cutting 600 but are hiring for 350 to 400 people. It would immediately allow them to replace higher wages workers that have been with the company with entry level positions . Also it seems like an identification of long term trends and they figure they want to invest in automation.

Re: Flexport slashes 20% of global workforce over weak 2023 volume forecast

#92

Post by dakiol »

zitterbewegung wrote: post #91
dakiol wrote: post #86

Perhaps I'm naive, but I think companies are doing massive layoffs these days because of some sort of "domino effect". There are companies out there who would love to lay off half their staff, but in regular times they couldn't just do it (because it wasn't a common thing, and makes them look "bad"... everyone would protest). But since nowadays every damn company is doing massive layoffs (and not unknown companies, b…

You are naive they just want to rehire positions at lower rates if you see in the article they are cutting 600 but are hiring for 350 to 400 people. It would immediately allow them to replace higher wages workers that have been with the company with entry level positions . Also it seems like an identification of long term trends and they figure they want to invest in automation.

Well, that's what I said. They are doing it not because of "bad times" or "recession" or "post-covid era", they are doing it because that's what they wanted to do from the beginning. They couldn't do a massive layoff in the past because it would get them bad rep, but nowadays, it barely is a thing anymore (just look at this thread: people commenting "well, at least the severance is nice". What the hell? Massive layoffs shouldn't be seen as regular news)

Re: Flexport slashes 20% of global workforce over weak 2023 volume forecast

#93

Post by fallingknife »

wongarsu wrote: post #36
trimbo wrote: post #26

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"2 Gs", in the US at least, means "two thousand" (G as in Grand)

And in many places M stands for thousand, from Latin "mille" (as well as the Roman numeral). That doesn't keep people from counting in kilo-, mega- and gigadollars. Still less confusing than dealing with short vs long scale numbers in translation.

Which is why you see millions of dollars often abbreviated as $5MM, to avoid the confusion with single M.

Re: Flexport slashes 20% of global workforce over weak 2023 volume forecast

#96

Post by super256 »

dakiol wrote: post #86

Perhaps I'm naive, but I think companies are doing massive layoffs these days because of some sort of "domino effect". There are companies out there who would love to lay off half their staff, but in regular times they couldn't just do it (because it wasn't a common thing, and makes them look "bad"... everyone would protest). But since nowadays every damn company is doing massive layoffs (and not unknown companies, b…

The FED is currently raising rates to fight inflation. One of the FED's main goals is slowing down demand, as policymakers can't control supply.

So, to fight that elevated inflation they are killing demand, and when demand sharply drops, you can't keep paying your workers as before (because you sell less goods!).

Moreover, companies simply got fat during the pandemic and over hired. I mean, there are probably also a few (lot) companies which do what you write, but I don't think Flexport is one of them. It's more likely they over hired like everyone else. Also, you might want to take a look at the current container fright prices [1]. Pretty parabolic.

[1] https://fbx.freightos.com/

Re: Flexport slashes 20% of global workforce over weak 2023 volume forecast

#97

Post by hamandcheese »

zitterbewegung wrote: post #91
dakiol wrote: post #86

Perhaps I'm naive, but I think companies are doing massive layoffs these days because of some sort of "domino effect". There are companies out there who would love to lay off half their staff, but in regular times they couldn't just do it (because it wasn't a common thing, and makes them look "bad"... everyone would protest). But since nowadays every damn company is doing massive layoffs (and not unknown companies, b…

You are naive they just want to rehire positions at lower rates if you see in the article they are cutting 600 but are hiring for 350 to 400 people. It would immediately allow them to replace higher wages workers that have been with the company with entry level positions . Also it seems like an identification of long term trends and they figure they want to invest in automation.

The roles fired and not the same as the roles hiring, for the most part.

Re: Flexport slashes 20% of global workforce over weak 2023 volume forecast

#98

Post by confidantlake »

pm90 wrote: post #14

This is really surprising considering the number of open recs they post on linkedin.

It is time we stop treating recs on linkedin as evidence of hiring. It is just as much an advertising tool as it is a genuine desire to hire people.

Re: Flexport slashes 20% of global workforce over weak 2023 volume forecast

#99

Post by anm89 »

crote wrote: post #89

Wow, that's a huge surprise. I hadn't heard of Flexport before, but they seem to be focused on global shipping. The company I work for ships almost all of its products internationally, and we have seen a massive price hike over the last 2-3 years. Some of it necessary due to rising costs, but we know for a fact that larger-volume customers are still getting lower prices. Additionally, the well-known carriers still of…

The market right now is FAR from overheated. In fact maritime shipping is collapsing right now.

https://www.drewry.co.uk/supply-chain-advisors/supply-chain-...

Both volume and rates are down roughly 80% YOY.

Re: Flexport slashes 20% of global workforce over weak 2023 volume forecast

#100

Post by colechristensen »

calr wrote: post #85

In my mind, Flexport is part of the "real" economy of moving atoms. They don't fall into the more fluffy "we are a startup that helps other startups start-up". I wonder if this is an early sign for a rough recession that spills outside of the current VC-backed tech slowdown.

I’m not sure it’s that strong a signal, the covid effect on shipping meant that there was a huge backlog of stuff to ship which of course got worked through eventually. But yes one should expect an actual recession outside just shrinking the tech bubble.
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