(The Richmond Times-Dispatch posted the following story by Chip Jones on its website on July 22.)
RICHMOND, Va. — CSX Corp.’s slashing of supervisor jobs last week is not expected to have much impact on the railroad’s operations in Richmond and around Virginia, a spokesman said yesterday.
Five managers in the company’s operating ranks in Virginia, including three in Richmond, were laid off as part of the reduction of 143 jobs, CSX spokesman Gary Sease said.
About half of the cuts occurred at CSX’s headquarters in Jacksonville, Fla., with most coming in middle-management ranks.
Sease declined to identify the individuals or the specific posts cut here. The employees will get severance packages based on seniority with the company.
Formerly based in Richmond, CSX is trying to position itself to take advantage of an expected economic recovery in the second half of this year. The nation’s third-largest railroad has cut about 400 jobs this year and is on track to reach a goal of cutting 900 positions by year’s end.
Some key parts of CSX’s business, such as coal and intermodal traffic, have been up lately, pointing to an economic rebound, Sease said.
CSX officials have said excess layers of management could be cut without hurting customer service. The latest layoffs were part of a push to move decision-making down in the organization to front-line managers, Sease said.
CSX employs about 200 people at rail yards and shops in Richmond and Henrico County, with an additional 1,200 employees around the state, according to a company estimate this year.