C.H. Robinson confirms 650 workers were laid off amid freight market slowdown

Logistics giant C.H. Robinson recently laid off hundreds of workers as concerns grow over the cooling freight market and reduced consumer spending.

Eden Prairie, Minnesota-headquartered logistics company C.H. Robinson confirmed that 650 workers, or about 3.6% of the company’s total work force, were laid off this week.

“As we said last week in our Q3 earnings, changes in market conditions, coupled with many successful endeavors on our digital roadmap directed at scaling our model to be more efficient, mean we are in a position to reduce our overall cost structure. As a result, we’re eliminating some positions at C.H. Robinson. These are not easy decisions, because we recognize the significant contribution of the impacted employees. We have tried to approach this with as much respect and empathy for our former colleagues as possible and are providing transition assistance,” Duncan Burns, Chief Communications Officer explained.

“We are committed to ensuring that our customers, carriers and partners continue to receive our full focus and that we deliver value to them through this and going forward,” Burns said.

In a November 2, 2022, earnings call to report third quarter results, President and CEO of C.H. Robinson Bob Biesterfeld expressed concern over the state of the economy and hinted at plains to cut company costs:

“Today, we believe that we are entering a time of slower economic growth where freight markets will continue to cool from their peaks and will operate more reliably and at more normalized rates, with fewer disruptions. These changes in market conditions, coupled with many successful endeavors on our digital roadmap directed at scaling our model to be more efficient, are allowing us to take actions to structurally reduce our overall cost structure.“