Logistics firms in the US are slashing employment amid slowing shipping demand

US-basedlogistics firms are cutting back on wages in the face of a slowdown on the back of falling consumer demand for the shipment of goods, the Wall Street Journal reports. The shift away from the shipment of goods to spending on services found more than 14k jobs cut by freight and parcel carriers from May to June, the WSJ writes, citing preliminary data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Courier and messenger companies’ employment contracted by 7k jobs last month, according to BLS. The sector has cut more than 40k jobs since reaching a peak last October, during peak shipping season. The cuts come following a pandemic-induced hiring surge that came along with a rise in ecommerce demand.

“The volumes aren’t there,” said Cathy Roberson, president of supply-chain research firm Logistics Trends & Insights. “Retailers are offering buy-online, pickup-in-store, curbside pickup. They’re looking for ways to mitigate shipping costs by getting away from delivering orders.”