UPS says it is cutting up to 30,000 jobs

A UPS driver makes deliveries in Miami on April 28, 2025. UPS said on Jan. 27, 2026 that it expected to cut as many as 30,000 jobs this year as part of a continuing effort to reduce costs and shore up profits. (Scott McIntyre/The New York Times)

By PETER EAVIS

UPS said earlier this week that it expected to cut as many as 30,000 jobs this year as part of a continuing effort to reduce costs and shore up profits.

Last year, the delivery company eliminated 62,000 positions, by laying off full-time drivers, warehouse workers and managers, as well as seasonal employees. UPS said Tuesday that it was planning the additional layoffs this year because it expected to deliver fewer packages for Amazon.

Tuesday’s announcement could add to Americans’ concerns about the job market. While unemployment has risen only slightly in recent months, hiring has slowed significantly. Consumer confidence plunged this month, partly because a greater share of consumers said jobs were “hard to get,” according to the Conference Board.

Brian Dykes, UPS’ chief financial officer, said this year’s job cuts would be in “operational positions,” the term UPS uses for delivery and warehouse workers. He said the reductions would occur “through attrition” and by offering “voluntary separation” to full-time drivers. UPS said last year that it wanted to wind down much of its Amazon business because it was not profitable. UPS has said Amazon was its largest customer.

UPS announced the layoffs on the same day it reported its earnings for 2025. The company had net income of $5.57 billion last year, down nearly 4% from $5.78 billion in 2024.

UPS had around 500,000 employees at the start of last year, some 300,000 of them members of the Teamsters union. A Teamsters spokesperson did not respond to requests for comment on the layoffs.

UPS’ leaders are restructuring the company to try to bolster profit margins in a difficult time for the delivery business. Last year, the company suffered a sharp drop in packages sent from China after President Donald Trump imposed tariffs on lower-value shipments from the country.

Last year, UPS closed 93 facilities and deployed automation in 57. Dykes said Tuesday that the company had identified 24 more buildings for closure in the first half of the year, and that more could follow.

Investors appear to be backing UPS’ moves to reinvigorate its business. The company’s stock is up over 35% from its low last year. Still, over the past year, its shares are down 18%, while Fedex’s stock is up 11%.

On an investor call Tuesday, UPS CEO Carol Tomé said, “2025 was a year of considerable progress for UPS.”

In November, a UPS plane crashed in Louisville, Kentucky, killing three crew members and 12 people on the ground. The plane was a MD-11F jet, made by McDonnell Douglas, which Boeing acquired in the 1990s. On Tuesday, UPS said it had retired its MD-11 fleet in the fourth quarter of 2025.