UPS has introduced plans to chop as much as 30,000 jobs this yr because it continues to scale back deliveries for its largest buyer, Amazon, which the parcel big says have been weighing closely on profitability.
The world’s largest package deal supply agency mentioned the job reductions can be achieved primarily by means of voluntary buyout gives to full-time drivers and by not changing workers who depart the enterprise. The transfer kinds a part of a broader turnaround technique geared toward reshaping UPS’s community and specializing in higher-margin clients.
UPS mentioned Amazon shipments had been “terribly dilutive” to revenue margins, prompting the corporate to intentionally scale back its publicity to the net retailer. Final yr, UPS introduced it could cut back its dependency on Amazon and pivot in direction of extra worthwhile sectors, together with healthcare and time-critical logistics.
Chief government Carol Tomé mentioned the corporate was nearing the tip of its deliberate drawdown.
“We’re within the remaining six months of our Amazon accelerated glide-down plan and for the complete yr 2026, we intend to glide down one other million items per day whereas persevering with to reconfigure our community,” she mentioned.
The announcement got here alongside stronger-than-expected monetary outcomes. UPS reported revenues of $24.5bn (£17.7bn) for the ultimate quarter of final yr and forecast a shock rise in full-year income to $89.7bn in 2026, regardless of the deliberate discount in Amazon volumes.
The restructuring follows an aggressive cost-cutting programme in 2025, when UPS lower 48,000 jobs and closed 93 services as a part of the identical technique. The corporate mentioned it is going to shut an additional 24 services within the first half of this yr because it continues to streamline operations.
Based on its 2024 annual report, UPS employs round 490,000 folks globally, together with practically 78,000 in administration roles. A lot of its workforce is unionised.
In a separate transfer, UPS confirmed it’s completely retiring its fleet of MD-11 cargo plane following a deadly crash in Louisville, Kentucky, in November. The MD-11s, which account for round 9% of the corporate’s fleet, have been grounded because the incident.
UPS shares ended barely larger in New York buying and selling on Tuesday following the announcement.
The strategic shift highlights the altering dynamics of the US supply market, the place Amazon has quickly expanded its in-house logistics community. In 2024, Amazon dealt with an estimated 6.3 billion deliveries within the US, overtaking each UPS and FedEx. By 2028, Amazon is anticipated to surpass the US Postal Service as the most important supply operator within the nation, in response to Pitney Bowes’ parcel delivery index.
UPS mentioned decreasing reliance on Amazon would permit it to enhance margins, simplify operations and construct a extra resilient enterprise mannequin targeted on premium and specialised logistics providers.
