DHL jobs to be cut, but workers could land with new employer

Freight giant DHL will permanently lay off 229 workers in Lima by March 12, the company has told Ohio government.

The layoffs will happen at the company’s 635 N. Cool Road location in Allen County, the company said in a WARN (Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification) notice to the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services.

But a DHL Supply Chain spokeswoman, Lynn Anderson, said the DHL work will move to another third-party logistics provider, who will interview affected employees.

“We don’t expect there to be any net job loss,” Anderson said.

That new provider has agreed to interview the current employees, she said. Anderson said she expects most of the current workers to be hired by that new provider.

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Those affected include forklift mechanics and operators, supervisors, dispatch workers and many others, the company said in its letter to the state, dated Jan. 9.

DHL has a major packaging and sorting hub at the Cincinnati-Northern Kentucky International Airport in Hebron, Ky. That 223-acre operation employs about 2,400 people, and DHL was expected to complete a $108 million investment there in 2017.

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When DHL closed a distribution hub in Wilmington in late 2008, more than 7,000 local jobs were cut.

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