UPS cuts 20,000 jobs due to drop in Amazon shipments
UPS plans to lay off 20,000 employees, more than 4% of its global workforce, in 2025 as part of cost-cutting measures related to Amazon’s decision to scale back deliveries.
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United Parcel Service, one of the largest U.S. shipping and logistics companies, this week announced plans to cut 30,000 jobs over the next year.
In an earnings call on January 27, UPS Chief Financial Officer Brian Dykes attributed the company’s poor fourth-quarter results in part to lower package volumes from Amazon and the crash of UPS Flight 2976 in Louisville on November 4. UPS last year accelerated its mission to limit its relationship with Amazon, aiming to reduce the volume of packages it handles from retailers by 50% by the second half of 2026.
Dykes said on the conference call that the company’s average daily package volume has plummeted by 2 million packages, largely due to Amazon’s actions.
Looking ahead, Dykes said, “We plan to reduce total operating hours by approximately 25 million hours.” “…we expect to eliminate up to 30,000 operational positions.”
UPS similarly plans to close 24 buildings in the first half of this year, and more in the second half of 2026, he said. With these efforts and increased automation, the company hopes to reduce spending by about $3 billion in 2026.
“We will be offering a second voluntary redundancy program for full-time drivers,” Dykes added.
In 2025, UPS cut 48,000 jobs and offered to buy out full-time drivers for the first time in company history to achieve meaningful cost savings. Tuesday’s announcement marks the third consecutive year of UPS job cuts.
Last quarter, UPS’s consolidated revenue was $24.5 billion, down 3.2% from the same quarter in 2024, according to a Jan. 27 report. Comparing full-year 2025 and 2024, UPS’s total revenue decreased by $2.4 billion.
USA TODAY has reached out to UPS for comment.
Contributor: Olivia Evans, Louisville Courier-Journal
