If you’ve been watching the industry and market reactions over FedEx the last six months, you’re liable to be confused. Is the company doing great? Are they losing ground? If there were any lessons learned these last two years about predicting and measuring corporate performance by Wall Street, surely the lessons should have included instructions to “pay no attention to the man behind the curtain,” while business survival tactics are enforce.

Business is up. Business is down. It hasn’t all been fantasy – DHL pulled out of the U.S. market in 2009 – it was that bad! UPS picked up substantial new volume, while FedEx lost. At the end of the day, FedEx is still one of the biggest and most popular companies in the world, and that opinion exists among communities and employees alike.

As an employee, what should you be concerned about at FedEx? Read the most recent FedEx News & Current Events to get more informed!

If your aim is to become a model FedEx employee, you’ll have almost unlimited choices about where you can further your career. The company operates world-wide, and plans to grow in the Asian market substantially. There are a wide variety of programs and projects that will keep you motivated and inspired. That’s good, because for many, working at FedEx means working long hours, under difficult and sometimes volatile conditions, and you may need a reason, from time to time, to keep up the pace and keep up with the demand.

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Of course, whether saving sea turtles or saving time off of deliveries, if you’re motivated by hard work and staying busy, there will be plenty to do in the upcoming years at FedEx. What are some of the immediate and obvious areas where FedEx may need assistance?

Operating Structure: Is it just me, or does FedEx seem to be fighting its own structure? It’s a transportation company, but it’s a freight/delivery/tracking/technology/office services company too. Does running each interest area separately guarantee smooth operations at FedEx? Since the compensation structure is modeled after total company success, it’s important that each employee does their best to both create and support an end-to-end picture of the company. The more you know about how things get done at FedEx, and how many things can get done through FedEx, the better you’ll be able to support both the company and its customers in daily activities. You’ll want to be able to describe how you’ll work with and support the related results but different processes that produce them all within the Corporation.

Efficiency: Time and fuel costs are the name of the game at FedEx. The company reduced the Cost of Revenue by over 50% in the last year, largely because of the decision to cancel matching employee 401k contributions. They’ve been reinstated, but that won’t keep both executives and investors from wanting to continue and broaden ways to stretch operating dollars. If you can ferret out and add new competitive and/or operations efficiencies to FedEx processes, your contributions will be highly valued.

Services: Buying Kinkos probably seemed like such a great idea at the time. It seemed like a natural – most of the end products at Kinkos ended up being shipped or mailed or electronically sent to the appropriate destination when customers completed their orders. The tie-in to technology related services seemed to fit too. Unfortunately, two years after the acquisition and renaming to FedEx Office, the business unit continues to lose momentum and money. Other services were down in 2009 too. The problem may be that this line of business is far removed from the company’s core products and even its core business understanding. If you can add your expertise to turning this business unit around, you’ll be famous at FedEx.

FedEx is great at handling air transport and shipping services. They’re the best at international shipping, supply chain management, custom critical freight, and you couldn’t ask for a better expert at your side when you’re dealing with customs and import/export regulations. If there’s a fly in the proverbial ointment, it seems to be found in running a ground transportation company that delivers to almost every zip code and address around the world, and running a “Services” segment that seems totally unrelated to the core business. It’s easy to poke and prod out the weaknesses, but more difficult to dismiss the amount of talent and expertise that goes into pulling off a single day of work at FedEx. Can you imagine guaranteeing that you’ll arrive at a changing target destination, no matter the weather, traffic, or other delays, every single day by 10:30 a.m.?

No matter the awe-inspiring performance, this last year Express and special services were way down, which is more a comment on the economy than on anything FedEx did. Ground and Overseas Freight were up, which seems likely due to more people accepting less expensive “slow-boat” transport than expensive, expedited packages. Apparently, we’re willing to wait if it saves us some money. The interesting development over the next year will be whether or not the more lucrative and profitable Express business regains all of its lost customers, or whether both U.S. Domestic and International shipping habits have longer term change at the heart of the sales declines.

In May, analysts were picking apart the FedEx financial bones. The company was in a declining cash position, and playing accounting slight-of-hand stunts to keep investors and corporate analysts at bay. They showed a 57% reduction in cost of revenue, but this year that cost is likely to return with a vengeance as the halted matching 401k employee contributions were suspended, then reinstated for the next fiscal year. If you look past the claims for spotty and specific line-item gains, overall, FedEx had a tough year. So did a lot of other companies.

The good news is; things got off to a better start in the new 2010-2011 1st quarter. After forecasts predicted continued declines or possible stagnancy for the beginning of this year, for the first quarter ending August 31, FedEx raised its earnings guidance 20 cents to $1.05-$1.25 per share, and boosted its full-year guidance by the same amount, up to $4.60-$5.20 per share. FedEx recorded earnings of $3.76 per share for 2009. FedEx suffered a huge loss in 2009 (down to $34.28/ share), due to a price increase amid dropping business volume, followed by a plane crash at the Tokyo airport. The company climbed out of this hole in less than a year, and returned to an average of about $80 per share by December of the same year.

FedEx will be looking for people who can continue this good financial news picture into the coming year. The company will need expertise in turning around the Express and Services segments, all while not sacrificing the consequent and hoped-for freight and ground delivery growth. If you look solely at the financial investment perspective, FedEx would not have been a very good short-term money maker and, in fact, would have cost you money. On the other hand, given the company has survived while other industry companies have not, and given the substantial and complete nature of the FedEx 52-week turnaround, the chances your compensation investment will be in good hands is a fairly good, reasonable and, most likely, accurate assumption.

The freight and shipping markets got a lot smaller and a lot more competitive over the last two years. The highly profitable FedEx Express services business lost more than $1 billion in revenue in the U.S. alone. Meanwhile, as customers opted for better prices and cheaper shipping options, FedEx Express raised its prices in early 2009. This was probably a wise business move as the company tried to keep the associated revenue losses from impacting year end figures with disastrous results. Wall Street, however, showed its lack of confidence in this decision with a drop to near record stock price lows. FedEx customers apparently didn’t take too well to the price increase either, as Express segment revenues and volume continued to fall too. They did, however, keep some of their FedEx loyalty in tact. Ground and Freight volume was up over the last year. And, no matter how difficult the last year, FedEx is still around, and its first quarter earnings, finally, after two long years, are showing promise.

FedEx and Atlanta-based UPS handle such a huge chunk of U.S. and global shipping that they are considered economic bellwethers, and consequently, UPS is the name of the competitive game for FedEx. These two companies are essentially in the same business. Through its “The UPS Store,” UPS offers office-type services similar to FedEx Office. What does UPS do different? UPS charges more for freight over 70 lbs. FedEx owns the sky with a fleet of aircraft. UPS owns more equipment, and employs more people, but overall, FedEx has better and more consistent delivery services than does UPS. So, why the big difference in 2010 year-end final numbers? Part of this has to do with size and simple volume numbers made possible through more people and vehicles. Part of it can be attributed to the successful “What Can Brown Do for You” advertising campaign. Maybe it’s those uniforms?

FedEx’s four business segments sports over 275,000 employees and “independent contractors” worldwide who can get packages to you the next day, including Saturday, anywhere in the United States for the right price. In total, FedEx has 42,000 drop boxes, over 9,000 centers, and 70,000 vehicles for express, ground, freight, and expedited delivery service that deliver over 6.5 million packages to more than 220 countries daily. FedEx also owns 672 aircraft and travels to over 375 airports worldwide. Jobs include Independent Service Providers (ISPs), (link to Fedex evolution of independent contractor model….) primarily the operators and delivery staff at FedEx Ground, are expected to own/operate their equipment and be responsible for complete geographic territories. ISPs – Independent Service Providers, assume responsibility for the pickup-and-delivery operations of an entire geographic service area that includes multiple routes, and (ii) negotiate independent agreements with FedEx Ground, rather than agree to a standard contract. FedEx Ground is transitioning to the ISP model in Tennessee, Illinois, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Rhode Island and Vermont during 2011 and, based upon the success of this model, may in the company’s ordinary course transition to it in other states as well.

Wages are about standard for the industry, and raises come after the compensation committee decides how the company did as a whole the previous year. Typical compensation packages include wages, cash bonus, stock options and profit sharing. Employee benefits are, for the most part, tailored to each company segment, and are generous and appropriate. They include healthcare plans, life and disability insurance, a newly reinstated company match on 401k contributions, time off, plenty of community and charitable projects to satisfy anyone’s need to be a part of a bigger cause and, of course, discount shipping and air travel. In 2010, FedEx said it had reinstated employee compensation programs previously cut in response to the recession despite the dampening effect they will have on earnings in the fourth quarter and into 2011. At least it wasn’t a disagreement about healthcare benefits. Considering the type of work involved at most FedEx operations, a comprehensive medical package is probably more a necessity than a “benefit.”

The company forecast fourth-quarter earnings of $1.17 to $1.37 per share. Analysts expected $1.26, so value may be returning to the compensation offerings at FedEx in the near future.

Employees complain everywhere – FedEx is no different; long hours, too much too do… the company takes a lot of heat for its ISP policy from competitors and labor unions. Despite the dissatisfactions that are often a part of the employee picture anywhere, overall, FedEx is a highly desirable employer – people have fun and share in a variety of experiences and opportunities presented to them courtesy of being a member of FedEx. Every employee is a vital part of the business, and considering that almost every customer has direct contact with a “groundling” employee, how those customers get treated by (especially) them, can be a competitive advantage or disadvantage. FedEx wants and needs the competitive advantage.