‘It’s wrong’: FedEx employee of 37 years recalls being laid off
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MEMPHIS, Tenn. – After 37 years at FedEx, Gwen Smith told FOX13 she was laid off with no warning on Thursday.
“It most definitely was the worst day of my career,” she recalled.
Smith spent most of her life working at the largest employer in Tennessee. The Cordova resident spent every morning driving to the Memphis International Airport to work in flight simulator support. She wonders how many other Memphis employees were laid off.
“My supervisor was almost in tears,” she said. “He choked up. He couldn’t hardly read the script.”
After learning she lost her job, Smith told FOX13 she was told to pack up her things and was escorted off the company property.
“It was just shocking and very disturbing,” she said. “I feel like it was not handled correctly by long term employees such as myself.”
FedEx would not confirm how many employees lost their jobs in Memphis or across the globe.
“We made the difficult decision to reduce a small percentage of positions as we streamline and realign functions,” wrote a company spokeswoman in a statement to FOX13.
According to the company, FedEx employs more than 30,000 people in the greater Memphis area. FedEx did not file a state WARN notice that the company would lay off workers in Tennessee, but it did file a notice in Georgia that it would lay off more than 300 employees there.
“This is a cost reduction move,” said John Gnuschke, a Memphis economist who has studied the business strategies of FedEx since 1976.
Fred Smith founded the company in Little Rock in 1971, moving operations to Memphis in 1973.
In recent years, Gnuschke told FOX13 that the company has been under increasing pressure to cut costs to compete with industry leaders like Amazon.
The company shared stronger earnings than predicted this week as pilots pushed for greater pay.
“I still believe in it,” Gnuschke said. “I think it’s a great company. I think Memphis is tremendously lucky to have it.”
However, lifelong employees like Gwen Smith are questioning whether almost four decades of loyalty meant anything to the region’s largest employer.
“It was just wrong,” she said. “Just totally wrong. And I’m very hurt. And now at this point in my life, I’m going to have to start all over and look for another job.”
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