Fewer FedEx employees will be made redundant at its Liege hub as a result of demand increases and discussions with unions.

The express giant had announced a series of job cuts in January as a result of the integration of the air network of TNT Express, which it purchased for €4.4bn back in 2016.

Under the plans to combine the two air networks, FedEx's Roissy-Charles de Gaulle hub would serve as a primary hub while TNT's main hub at Liege would become a secondary hub with job losses as a consequence.

However, ongoing demand increases have helped mitigate some of these cuts.

“Our strategic objectives for our integrated air network, as announced in January, have not changed,” FedEx said. “Liege will continue to play an essential role in our European air network. It will be a stable and essential part of our strategic infrastructure in Europe, now and in the future. 

“The intentions we presented in January included 671 redundancies. Increased volumes processed at the Liege air hub have reduced this number to 549.

“Thanks to constructive discussions with our social partners, we have found additional measures that may bring the number of forced redundancies significantly down, including not replacing people that have left the company and pre-pension agreements.

“In addition, we will have 56% less contracts that will be negatively affected (from 861 announced in January to 376) and almost 60% more contracts that will be positively affected (from 211 announced in January to 335).”

Some reports have suggested that the number of job losses could eventually drop to 157.

FedEx said that following agreement with unions, it was in the process of closing the information and consultation phase of the legal procedure.

The express firm added that there are still several steps to take before proceeding with the air network transformation in Liege

“Following a summer break, we will start negotiations with our social partners on a social plan.”

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