Fedex Case Study
Abstract
Workers understand that companies, at times, need to take drastic actions. The real issue is whether they see the company balancing its immediate business interests against how those decisions will affect employees and the long term business sustainability.
Labor relations is a broad field encompassing all the myriad interchanges between employers and employees. While labor relations is most often used to discuss this exchange as it pertains to unionized employees, it may also refer to nonunion employees as well. Labor relations are dictated in a large part by the government of a nation and the various regulations it provides regarding the treatment of employees.
The forming of a union can be a precarious situation for employers. Employees form unions when they are unhappy with the terms of their employment and the direction the business is taking. Although employers can take certain steps to avoid unions forming within their place of work, they must follow the law and regulations regarding labor law.
At a time when technology is becoming the key distinction among transportation firms, FedEx recently announced plans to shrink its 4000 employee IT division by about 200 workers. The move has been considered jarring by some because FedEx traditionally has used layoffs only as a measure of last resort. How could this action affect the company’s organizational culture and employee relations, especially in lieu of its corporate philosophy? What steps should FedEx take in order to prevent or minimize possible negative effects? Many years have passed since our nation has experienced an economic downturn of the severity, rapidity and frightening uncertainty that marks our current circumstances. In an effort to maintain even marginal profitability, companies have been slashing costs, including laying off workers. The newly unemployed each month have been numbering in the hundreds of thousands. Despite what has been said about the unimportance
Workers understand that companies, at times, need to take drastic actions. The real issue is whether they see the company balancing its immediate business interests against how those decisions will affect employees and the long term business sustainability.
Labor relations is a broad field encompassing all the myriad interchanges between employers and employees. While labor relations is most often used to discuss this exchange as it pertains to unionized employees, it may also refer to nonunion employees as well. Labor relations are dictated in a large part by the government of a nation and the various regulations it provides regarding the treatment of employees.
The forming of a union can be a precarious situation for employers. Employees form unions when they are unhappy with the terms of their employment and the direction the business is taking. Although employers can take certain steps to avoid unions forming within their place of work, they must follow the law and regulations regarding labor law.
At a time when technology is becoming the key distinction among transportation firms, FedEx recently announced plans to shrink its 4000 employee IT division by about 200 workers. The move has been considered jarring by some because FedEx traditionally has used layoffs only as a measure of last resort. How could this action affect the company’s organizational culture and employee relations, especially in lieu of its corporate philosophy? What steps should FedEx take in order to prevent or minimize possible negative effects? Many years have passed since our nation has experienced an economic downturn of the severity, rapidity and frightening uncertainty that marks our current circumstances. In an effort to maintain even marginal profitability, companies have been slashing costs, including laying off workers. The newly unemployed each month have been numbering in the hundreds of thousands. Despite what has been said about the unimportance
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