Fedex discloses workers’ virus rate
Shareholder meeting also covers firm’s future
The COVID-19 infection rate among Fedex employees is about 1.7%, Fedex Corporate Vice President of Human Resources Judy Edge said at the company’s annual shareholders meeting Monday.
“A significant number of our employees are working from home,” Edge said. “As a result, our infection rate is pretty low, at approximately 1.7% of our employee workforce.”
Fedex employs 500,000 people globally, meaning COVID-19 has infected some 8,500 Fedex workers.
Edge, answering shareholder questions about COVID-19’S impact on the company, did not say exactly how many employees have died from the virus, but said the deaths reported since the pandemic began in March “are really low.”
A Fedex spokesperson said the company isn’t sharing specific COVID-19 information beyond what was said on the call.
About 10% to 15% of Fedex’s employees can work from home, Edge said, and “a significant number” are doing so. She said the high number of employees working remotely has helped slow the spread of the disease.
Multiple workers at the Fedex Express World Hub in Memphis have tested positive for COVID-19. At Fedex Express’ Newark, New Jersey, hub, at least five employees have died of the disease, The Commercial Appeal and The Bergen Record found, and U.S. Sen. Cory Booker sent Fedex a letterdemanding answers about hub safety measures.
Edge said Fedex is taking extensive measures to keep employees safe, including temperature checks prior to entry at several facilities, suspending most delivery signature requirements, providing personal protective equipment and masks for employees and promoting social distancing and COVID-19 education.
At the shareholders meeting, all three management proposals up for vote were approved and none of the five shareholder proposals were approved, according to preliminary results.
With more than 40% of Fedex’s stock held by its 15 largest shareholders in fiscal year 2020, proposals not backed by management are longshots for approval. Fedex will report final voting results in a regulatory filing.
Washington NFL team’s name change addressed
One question raised at the virtual meeting focused on Fedex asking Washington’s NFL team to change its name earlier this year.
Read by Chairman and CEO Fred Smith, the question said Fedex “alienated wide swaths of customers who are sick to death of loud performative wokeness” after requesting Washington’s NFL team to change its name and asked the company if it will commit to “dropping the radical political posturing” and refocus on its core business.
Fedex formally asked the Washington Redskins, now called the Washington Football Team, to change its nickname in July. Fedex is the sponsor for Washington’s home stadium of Fedexfield, and Smith owns a minority stake in the team’s ownership group.
Fedex Chief Marketing Officer Brie Carere said the company has a long commitment to diversity, equity and inclusion, evaluating sponsorships based on that philosophy.
“We appreciate very much the Washington Football Team’s decision to change its name and its logo, and please remember it was the team’s decision,” Carere said.
Fedex principles updated
Fedex is changing its strategic operating principles from “compete collectively, operate independently, manage collaboratively” to “compete collectively, operate collaboratively, innovate digitally,” Smith announced at the meeting.
“These changes are very strategic and reflect our focus on delivering what’s next for our industry,” he said. “Ultimately, this creates greater value for our customers and shareholders alike.”
President and COO Raj Subramaniam said the networks and expertise within Fedex’s operating companies, which includes Express, Ground and Freight, will remain independent of each other.
However, Fedex has installed new initiatives which involve multiple companies for certain shipments. Fedex Express is handing off some residential and rural deliveries to Fedex Ground, which reduces cost and increases efficiency.
Additionally, Subramaniam said Fedex Freight has provided 20 million miles of road and intermodal support and delivered more than 750,000 bulky shipments for Fedex Ground so far this fiscal year.
“To put this in perspective, Freight had never delivered a Ground package before May of this calendar year,” he said.
As far as innovating digitally, Subramaniam pointed to Fedex Surround, which is part of Fedex’s collaboration with Microsoft, and the Fedex Senseaware ID device as moves the company has made to prepare for a digital-driven future.
Smith also addressed the recent Reliable Robotics test in which a Fedex feeder aircraft was piloted remotely, after a shareholder asked if the company intends to replace its pilot workforce with autonomous technology.
Smith said the initiative is dealing with smaller aircraft and that the company “has no plans” to replace its pilots.
“I think the prospect of large transport aircraft being flown without a pilot is highly remote and not something that our crew force should be worried about in the foreseeable future,” Smith said. “Decades, I would say.”