Starbucks switch to OHL triggers Exel layoffs
Logistics provider Exel plans to layoff 146 at its Auburn, Wash., warehouse beginning Jan. 29, according to a Nov. 2 notice posted on the Employment Security Department's Web site.
Under the law, employers with 100 or more workers must report large layoffs and notify affected employees 60 days prior to a plant closure or issuance of a pink slip.
Exel was forced to let go its staff after losing its contract to operate the regional distribution center in Auburn for Seattle-based Starbucks, which has selected OHL as the replacement third-party logistics provider, according to the Seattle Times.
OHL, based in Brentwood, Tenn., has served Starbucks in other locations for nine years.
It could rehire many of the current Exel employees, the paper said. ' Eric Kulisch