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Airborne Inc. (), the parent company of package shipper Airborne Express, said Friday that it will lay off 640 workers, or 2.5% of its workforce, because business has dropped off and the company sees no indication of an economic turnaround.

Carl Donaway, president and chief operating officer, said as consumers buy less, the companies they buy from have been cutting back on their box shipping with Airborne.

One analyst told Bloomberg Airborne will not be able to turn things around as quickly as United Parcel Service or FedEx because it is not as big, and can't offer as many options or shipping methods.

The workforce reduction, the first system-wide reduction in Airborne’s history, is expected to trim $26-28 million in costs annually. It will affect all levels of the organization.

The Seattle-based company said that it will take a one-time charge between $3.1-$3.6 million in the second quarter for severance packages and other restructuring costs.

t is expected to post a second-quarter loss of 26 cents per share, according to Bloomberg. In the second quarter of 2000, it posted a profit of 28 cents per share.

Airborne said last month it halted hiring because it expected the slowing of shipment growth to last through the year.

( for the full press release.)

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