messengers

Some employers racing to snap up workers in the tight labor market are omitting a step once considered crucial to hiring: the job interview. United Parcel Service Inc. has bulked up its staff without conducting job interviews for package handlers and seasonal drivers. Home Depot Inc. has sent job offers as quickly as 24 hours after candidates apply, in some cases eliminating the interview process. Gap Inc. has dropped job interviews…

United Parcel Service Inc.’s profit climbed in the third quarter despite a downtick in shipping volumes as higher prices buoyed the business. UPS UPS 0.32% Chief Executive Carol Tomé said the global economy outside the U.S. softened in the third quarter, but the delivery company managed to adjust its networks to changes in parcel volume. Overall revenue for the Atlanta-based delivery company rose 4.2% to $24.2 billion, as revenue per piece shipped rose 8.6%, offsetting a…

Rising shipping costs are primed to squeeze profits for businesses of all sizes this holiday season.Entrepreneurs and executives say that to cope they are buying their own delivery vehicles, pleading with customers for patience and changing the products they sell. The moves, they say, are in response to carriers such as FedEx Corp. FDX 2.06% and United Parcel Service Inc. continuing to pass along price increases for service. Staff at specialty pharmacy…

Regional airline company Mesa Air Group Inc. is offering a new way for pilots who have gone through initial training to build up the hundreds of additional flying hours they need to qualify for airline jobs.The airline, which flies for United Airlines Holdings Inc., American Airlines Group Inc. and cargo carrier DHL Express, said Thursday that it acquired 29 small two-seat planes with options to buy as many as 75 more over the next year. It plans…

FedEx Corp. FDX -2.64% said a slowdown in the global economy has hurt its business. Investors, analysts and customers of the company said they are seeking clarity on how deep the problems are and what its response will be.  The carrier is due to report its first-quarter earnings after U.S. stock markets close Thursday, a week after cutting its full-year financial outlook and revealing that package-delivery volumes in Europe, Asia and the U.S. were weaker than it…

The delivery giant’s shares lost more than 20% Friday—on track for its biggest one-day drop ever—after the company said a macroeconomic slowdown had led to lower volumes of goods moving around the world in recent weeks. All three major U.S. stock indexes were lower early Friday, falling more than 1% apiece.  The chief executives at General Electric Co. and Verizon Communications Inc. also pointed this week to signs of economic troubles.…

FedEx’s CEO says the company is aggressively accelerating its cost-reduction efforts. Photo: Ted S. Warren/Associated Press…

FedEx Corp. FDX -4.33% sued one of its largest delivery contractors in the U.S., saying the businessman has orchestrated a campaign to promote his own consultancy by disparaging the delivery giant. Spencer Patton, a FedEx contractor based in Brentwood, Tenn., recently hosted a conference for FedEx contractors and has posted videos on YouTube calling for contractors to join a trade association he created. He has called on FedEx to…

Tensions between FedEx Corp. FDX -1.55% and independent companies that help deliver its packages are escalating as more than 2,000 of its contractors gather in Las Vegas for an annual expo.The networking event comes as many FedEx Ground contractors have been dueling with the company over everything from rising fuel costs to inaccurate shipping forecasts. Some contractors are lobbying the company for better pay, while others want to start discussions about coordinating…

A Nebraska woman and her 17-year-old daughter are facing felony and misdemeanor charges related to allegedly performing an abortion after 20 weeks, which has long been illegal in the state, and concealing a fetus. Reports from the Lincoln Journal Star and Motherboard revealed this week that law enforcement collected evidence for the charges in part by soliciting data from Meta with a warrant that ordered the company to hand over records from the 17-year-old’s Messenger chat histories. While Meta was complying with a…