AM I NEXT? NO LOVE AT U.S. XPRESS (05/14/23)

Stephen Levine May 25, 2022

MAY 14, 2023 — LAYOFFS IN PREPARATION FOR A MERGER

The company has acknowledged that it has once again reduced its corporate staff as it prepares to merge with Knight-Swift Transportation Holdings. The new layoffs follow 140 layoffs in May and August of 2022.

The company declined to provide an exact count.

According to a company spokesperson, “We did recently make the difficult decision to reduce roles in a few business areas in response to challenging market conditions. Our industry is experiencing a prolonged lack of freight demand that has negatively affected trucking and logistics companies. We are no exception.”

MAY 25, 2022 — Original blog…

Chattanooga, Tennessee-based U. S. Xpress, a provider of long and medium-haul truckload transportation services, contract carriage, and rail services, has announced a reduction in force.

The reduction in force affected 100+ employees at the company's headquarters in Chattanooga, Tennessee, and Tunnel Hill, Georgia. The affected employees were

According to a company spokesperson. “We’re always looking to make sure that we’re applying the appropriate resources to our number of seated trucks. Another factor we’ve had to take into consideration has been the soft freight market that the whole industry has faced for the last 18 months or so.

Considering the combination of a soft freight market and pressures from customers for reduced rates, we’re focusing on specific priorities and making sure we have the right resources in place to execute them.”

The company's statement...

"In recent months, our truck count and revenue have not grown at the same rate as our headcount. Unfortunately, this means that we made the decision to let some team members go this week. Many of these reductions in staff are within our technology team and the remainder were company-wide across operations and back-office support. No driver, service center, or maintenance roles were impacted. While difficult, his decision reflects our need to right-size our headcount for our truck count growth and is necessary for the health and long-term success of the business."

Change is coming. There will always be a tomorrow, no matter how much you may try to ignore it. There are no guarantees in life or promises for a bright future. Just because something bad hasn't happened yet, doesn't mean it won't. It can happen to anyone, anytime, anywhere. No one is guaranteed to wake up tomorrow and still have a job by evening. Are you now wondering, Am I Next?

AM I NEXT? NO LOVE AT CARVANA (01/05/2025)

Stephen Levine May 24, 2022

JANUARY 5, 2025 — CAUTION

A major short-seller of securities has released a scathing report on the company suggesting extreme danger lies ahead and that the company’s track record may have been manipulated.

The January 2, 2025 report is available from Hindenburg Research – Investigative Research & Reporting, Carvana: A Father-Son Accounting Grift For The Ages.

NOVEMBER 18, 2022 — 1,500 EMPLOYEES TARGETED

The company is laying off about 1,500 people, or 8% of its workforce, following a plunge in the company’s stock, a weakening used vehicle market, and concerns around the company’s long-term trajectory, according to an email from CEO Ernie Garcia.

Hey Everyone,
Today is a difficult day. The world around us has continued to get tougher, and to do what is best for the business, we have to make some painful choices to adapt.
These changes include adjusting the way we work together, and taking on less while channeling more of our focus to our most important and impactful projects.
They also include reducing costs and getting more efficient across the business. Those choices are hard. They require work. But they aren’t painful.
The painful choice is to say goodbye to members of our team who we all know and care about. Today we are reducing the size of our team by approximately 1,500 people, which represents about 8% of our company.
These reductions impact many Corporate and Technology teams as well as some Operations teams where we are eliminating roles, locations, or shifts to match our size with the current environment.
In the next 30 minutes, we will be sending emails to everyone in Corporate and Tech, letting you know whether or not you are impacted by today’s changes, while those in Operations groups or field roles will be meeting with managers in the next couple of hours. Everyone will learn exactly where their role and team stand today.

May 24, 2022 — Original post…

Tempe, Arizona-based Carvana, an online used car retailer known for its multi-story car vending machines, has announced a restructuring that will see the rearrangement of its operational hubs leading to a mass layoff event impacting at least 2,500 employees nationwide and mostly affecting those in operational positions within Carvana.

According to Carvana CEO Ernie Garcia...

"Recent macroeconomic factors have pushed automotive retail into recession. While Carvana is still growing, our growth is slower than what we originally prepared for in 2022, and we made the difficult decision to reduce the size of certain operations teams to better align with the current needs of the business"
“It has always been the right move to start building for growth well ahead of when we expect it to show up. This strategy worked for us every year until this one."
I wish the burden were shared more evenly across the company, but our operations teams have grown the most over the last several months and are therefore furthest out of balance with the sales we are seeing.
"Saying goodbye to any team member is not a decision we take lightly and we aim to be transparent, thoughtful and supportive throughout this process, including providing meaningful assistance, resources and support to impacted team members.
"We believe these decisions, while extremely difficult, will result in Carvana restoring a better balance to our operations and facilitate the company returning to efficient growth on its mission to change the way people buy and sell cars."

A statement filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission explains the situation...

"On May 10, 2022, Carvana Co. announced a workforce reduction of approximately 2,500 employees primarily in operational groups in connection with its previously announced plans to better align staffing and expense levels with sales volumes."
"In connection with these right-sizing initiatives, over the next several weeks Carvana will be transitioning operations away from its Euclid, OH IRC and a few logistics hubs."

AM I NEXT? NO LOVE AT TASKUS (02/21/23)

Stephen Levine May 23, 2022

FEBRUARY 21, 2023 — 186 LAYOFFS IN SAN ANTONIO, TEXAS

The company announced its intention to eliminate 186 positions on Friday, Feb. 24, 2023, with most of the layoffs coming from the sales department.

MAY 23, 2022 — Original post…

New Braunfels, Texas-based TaskUs, an outsourcing business process company that handles content moderation, customer support, algorithmic screening, and consulting for online platforms including Facebook, Netflix, Zoom, Uber, and Doordash, has announced a reduction in force in the United States while it continues to focus on international growth. The majority of the company's workers are located in low-labor-cost countries and work remotely.

According to TaskUs CEO Bryce Maddock, “Although we are off to a very strong start for the year, the current environment is volatile. We’ve seen several of our clients in the high-growth technology space quickly shift their focus to reducing costs. We have also seen the impact of the recent downturn in the equity and crypto markets’ cost fluctuations in volumes in our fintech vertical.

Those factors are leading to U.S. layoffs. Our teams continue to fight to find roles for as many of our domestic teammates as possible, and nothing disappoints me more than having to say goodbye to great colleagues."