Posted on: Friday, September 5, 2003

DHL to lay off 80 local workers

By Deborah Adamson
Advertiser Staff Writer

About 80 DHL workers in Hawai'i are getting laid off next month following the company's merger with U.S. rival Airborne Inc.

Employees from DHL centers in Honolulu, Hilo, Kailua-Kona, Kahului and Lihu'e will lose their jobs by Oct. 31 but receive severance pay based on years of service.

The employees are mainly couriers, mechanics and certain administrative staff, said spokeswoman Kim Levy.

Nationally, 2,870 people — or 6.5 percent of DHL's 44,000 U.S. workforce — will be laid off at 169 centers.

"It's a key step to building a more competitive and efficient infrastructure," Levy said. "Management felt it was an important step ... to eliminate overlap."

The Hawai'i DHL offices will no longer directly serve customers, she said. Instead, pick up and delivery will be shifted to Airborne Express.

In August, DHL and Airborne merged, creating the third largest express delivery service company in the United States after United Parcel Service and Federal Express.

DHL, a unit of Deutsche Post AG in Germany, serves 2 percent of the U.S. market while Airborne has nearly 19 percent. UPS and FedEx have 79 percent, the company said.

The merger is DHL's bid to strengthen its U.S. market share since it's already the leader in international express deliveries.

Reach Deborah Adamson at 525-8088 or dadamson@honoluluadvertiser.com.