Evergreen to trim, restructure agency in North America

Evergreen to trim, restructure agency in North America Evergreen Shipping Agency (America), agents for Evergreen Marine Corporation, Tuesday announced that the company will consolidate some of its North American offices and reduce staff in order to deal with the downturn in the ocean shipping business.
   'The worldwide economic turmoil has created a situation we have not seen in our lifetimes,' the company said in the statement to its North America employees. Evergreen said the measures being taken will reduce cost and put the agency 'on a more sustainable structure moving forward.'
   A spokesperson for the company said the reductions would amount to less than 10 percent of the 600 employees who work in North America for the agency.
   Offices in Baltimore, Charleston, Norfolk and Salt Lake City will transfer all customer service and most logistics and marine responsibility to the Dallas office, while Toronto's customer service and logistics work will be assigned to the Vancouver office. Evergreen's Salt Lake City office will be closed entirely.
   Baltimore and Toronto sales activities will remain in those cities. The Chicago office will have a limited number of staff reductions in customer service and logistics, while a number of new positions will be created in Dallas, which impacted employees may apply for as result of the reorganization.
   Personnel in a variety of job functions, including customer service, logistics, and operations face layoffs. Positions may be moved from one office to another and employees may apply for new openings. For example, the company will retain sales functions in Toronto, but plans to consolidate Canadian operations in Vancouver.
   A severance package that includes salary and benefits will be given to employees whose positions are eliminated. The changes will be implemented on or before March 15, the company said.
   Taiwan-based Evergreen Line employs about 6,000 globally, and is the fourth largest carrier worldwide, operating 174 ships with about 622,805 TEUs of capacity, or about 4.8 percent of the world's container fleet, according to the information service AXS Alphaliner.
   Evergreen is even more dominant in the U.S. trades, according to Miami-based Datamyne, moving 1.19 million TEU or 9.14 percent of U.S. containerized trade. (For a comparison of the top 25 container carriers see the January American Shipper, page 46.)
   Evergreen Line had previously announced plans to reduce or eliminate several services calling at U.S. ports.
   'It is disappointing and disheartening that we are faced with a decision that has also impacted virtually every other carrier in ocean shipping today,' an Evergreen spokesperson said. 'We are positioning EGA to survive the catastrophic economic crisis and to succeed when we recover from these difficult times.'
   In November, Neptune Orient Lines, parent company of container shipping line APL and APL Logistics, said it will slash its workforce by 1,000, with most of the cuts in the U.S. market. It also said it would move its regional headquarters in Oakland, Calif., to a 'more cost effective location elsewhere in the United States.'
   Also in November, Horizon Lines said it planned a 10 percent reduction in its non-union workforce, eliminating at least 70 of its 700 jobs. ' Chris Dupin