Broker C.H. Robinson Worldwide Inc. last week laid off about 300 people, equal to about 2% of its global workforce, as it continues to work to match reduced demand for its services with its supply of labor.
In a statement Tuesday, the company (NASDAQ: CHRW) said the cuts affected workers across the company. However, they fell primarily on the shared services and non-engineering technology areas, the company said.
According to a well-placed source, the company’s marketing disciplines were disproportionately affected by the cuts.
This is the second workforce cut in the past seven months. The first, in November 2022, affected approximately 650 jobs.
Robinson has been in turmoil since the start of the year when it forced out Bob Biesterfeld as president and CEO. It has conducted a high-profile successor search, which has been widely expected to yield Jim Barber, former UPS COO, as the replacement. Nothing is expected to be announced until the end of this quarter at the earliest.
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Jose Fernandez
I hate to see people lose their jobs,however its their fault..As others say TQL,JB Hunt and Yellow freight need to be boycotted,they’re just cheap and dirty.We need OIDA to strongly represent us O/O and put all these brokers on blast..
Mark
Do not want to see folks lose there job . But I hope that cheap broker closes and TQL . They all have to go …
Troy Williams
I used to be a freight broker/forwarder. “Charlie Robinson” as we used to call them, is the largest 3pl in the world. Since they are a bell weather in the industry, I would think and hope this move is well thought out and strategic. I am sorry though, for the 300 folks who are now without work. Working for the biggest is not as secure as it use to be.
Michael Boston
The National Owner Operators Association announced the boycott against TQL, JB Hunt and CH Robinson on March 6th. We have 33,000 followers. There is no freight recession. Owners are refusing to carry loads for these companies because they are greedy. Times have changed and we will no longer carry loads for mega brokers whos business model is based on us starving to death. Pay truckers fairly and you wont have to layoff employees. NOW THEY KNOW HOW WE FEEL!!!
Pete
Non tech related? What a joke that is…LinkedIn even easily disproves that. IT is bloated. Continuous cuts will happen from IT for most of 2023. They’ve been over staffed and not delivered for years and years and the marketing team made almost no positive impact.
Bruce
Good cheap and heavey high way robbery
David
Looks like the titanic hit an iceberg.
Christopher Gardner
Why is the supply chain so distorted right now? These companies hire thousands of new workers without the foresight to see a major contraction of the market. Are we just creating jobs to then remove those jobs a year later? Seems like there’s a lot of mismanagement at the top level and not enough planning and prediction using market indicators. This is a problem that will continue to be an issue until we see some changes at the top level.