DHL, the express delivery service, will locate its U.S. headquarters in South Florida and could create about 600 jobs in the area as part of a consolidation plan, the company said Thursday.
DHL, a unit of Deutsche Post World Net, the German mail, express delivery, transportation and financial services giant, currently has its U.S. and Latin American regional headquarters operations in Plantation and another headquarters center in Seattle as a result of taking over Seattle-based Airborne Inc.’s ground services in August.
The consolidation, which will be carried out over the next 12-15 months, will relocate some personnel from Seattle, while others will be hired locally.
“It is clear that we cannot operate from two headquarters on opposite sides of the country over the long term,” said John Fellows, DHL’s chief executive officer, in a statement. “After careful consideration, we have determined that, because of the pan-regional responsibilities of the headquarters, the optimal location for our headquarters is South Florida.”
“We expect to make a significant investment in our facilities and operations in South Florida, which will bring additional employment opportunities to the region,” he added.
The company said it is reviewing its options for meeting space requirements before deciding where the new headquarters office will be located, and will be working with officials in Broward, Miami-Dade and Palm Beach counties “as we determine the exact location of our headquarters.”
DHL, which offers express delivery service, air and ocean freight, and overland transport, currently has about 1,500 employees at several sites in South Florida.
The company could not say as yet how many employees would decide to relocate to South Florida from Seattle.
DHL is moving its Seattle-based information technology personnel to Scottsdale, Ariz., and is offering relocation opportunities to other personnel, the company said. About 300 pick-up and delivery employees currently based in Seattle will remain there. The company has about 1,300 employees in Seattle.
Soon after taking over Airborne, DHL announced it would be laying off 2,870 employees nationwide, or 6 percent of its U.S. work force, as it shifted package and delivery service to Airborne personnel. About 90 DHL employees in South Florida were notified that they would lose their jobs, but no jobs were affected in Plantation.
DHL has package service centers in Fort Lauderdale, Hollywood, West Palm Beach and Miami.
With about 170,000 employees worldwide, DHL has its world headquarters in Brussels, Belgium.
Joseph Mann can be reached at or 954-356-4665.
