UPS looks to cut up to 30,000 jobs this year

UPS plans to cut up to 30,000 operational jobs this year as the package delivery company continues its recovery efforts and reduces the number of Amazon shipments it handles.

Last year, UPS launched a plan to reduce reliance on Amazon, its largest customer, and focus on higher-profit areas such as healthcare customers.

The layoffs will be made through a voluntary buyout offer and attrition for full-time drivers, Chief Financial Officer Brian Dykes said on the company’s conference call Tuesday.

“This is a tactical move,” he said during a call with analysts. “We did something similar last year to help us right-size position levels and network infrastructure with new volume and distribution levels.”

UPS also added that it plans to close 24 buildings in the first half of the year and is considering closing additional buildings later in the year.

UPS said in a regulatory filing in October: to cut Approximately 34,000 operational positions and day-to-day operations were closed across 93 leased and owned buildings in the first nine months of last year. The company also announced the layoffs of approximately 14,000 people, mostly at management levels.

UPS employs about 490,000 workers, according to FactSet.

in April, POWER SUPPLY Amazon announced plans to lay off nearly 20,000 people and close more than 70 facilities as it drastically reduces the number of shipments. The company said in January 2025 that it had reached an agreement with its largest customer, Amazon, to reduce its volume by more than 50% by the second half of 2026.

UPS is reducing volume on Amazon’s network by about 1 million items per day by the end of 2025, CEO Carol Tome said on the conference call.

“We are in the final six months of our Amazon accelerated percolation plan and plan to percolate another million items per day through 2026 as we continue to restructure our network,” Tome said.

UPS also announced that it is officially retiring its fleet of McDonnell Douglas MD-11 freighters following a fatal crash in Louisville, Kentucky, in November. The planes, which make up about 9% of the UPS fleet, were grounded.

Shares of United Parcel Service Inc. rose 3.4% in afternoon trading.