Maersk to cut at least 10,000 jobs as shipping boom ends

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AP Møller-Maersk has said it plans to axe at least 10,000 jobs as the container shipping industry’s pandemic-driven boom gives way to weaker demand and overcapacity.

Container shipping lines had already warned this year would be much tougher, but Maersk said on Friday the picture had deteriorated and that it was stepping up cost cuts.

The Danish group said it aimed to reduce its workforce from 110,000 to below 100,000, a move that would generate annual savings of $600mn.

In a sign of the strains now facing Maersk, the company added that its capex would be lower this year and next and that its share buyback programme for next year was under review.

Container shipping, an industry whose fortunes are tied to globalisation, reported record profits from 2020 to 2022 as retail and industrial companies struggled to restock and respond to pent-up demand unleashed after the lifting of coronavirus lockdowns.

In a statement on Friday, Vincent Clerc, Maersk chief executive, said that “our industry is facing a new normal with subdued demand, prices back in line with historical levels and inflationary pressure on our cost base”.

Maersk said that profits for this year would now be at the lower end of its previous guidance. The gloomier outlook came alongside Maersk’s results for the third quarter, which showed a steep drop in both revenues and profits.