On June 9, 2026, Expeditors International (NYSE: EXPD) cut about 230 technology jobs across its Seattle-area offices, ending a no-layoff practice the company had maintained for decades. A filing with the Washington State Employment Security Department under the state WARN Act confirmed the scale and attributed the cuts to "a workplace restructuring involving the Company's U.S. Global Technology Department." The roles span software developers, quality-assurance testers, project managers, and business analysts. The geographic breakdown from the WARN filing: roughly 68 in downtown Seattle, 66 in Federal Way, 59 in Lynnwood, 35 in Bellevue, and 2 in Airway Heights near Spokane.
The number is small relative to the company's roughly 19,000 employees, but the symbolism is the story. Expeditors was widely known for never conducting layoffs. It held that line through the 2008 to 2009 financial crisis, through the COVID-19 pandemic, and through the 2022 to 2023 wave of tech layoffs that hit Amazon, Meta, Microsoft, and most of the Seattle technology sector. The no-layoff posture was a point of corporate pride and a recruiting differentiator for much of the company's history. Breaking it in 2026 signals that even the most layoff-averse cultures are not immune to the current cost and restructuring pressures.
Expeditors International of Washington is a Fortune 500 global logistics and freight-forwarding company headquartered in Seattle, founded in 1979. It coordinates air and ocean freight, customs brokerage, and supply chain services worldwide. The cuts arrive roughly fourteen months into the tenure of CEO Daniel Wall, who took over in April 2025, succeeding Jeffrey Musser. Wall started at Expeditors as a messenger in 1987 and worked his way up over nearly four decades, which makes him a company lifer presiding over the end of one of its most distinctive cultural commitments. The WARN filing does not cite artificial intelligence as a driver; the stated reason is restructuring.