Parcel delivery giant UPS said it will cut up to 30,000 jobs this year as it accelerates a strategic pullback from Amazon, its largest customer, citing pressure on profit margins.
The job reductions will be implemented through buyout offers to full-time drivers and by not replacing employees who leave voluntarily, the company said, as per media reports. UPS did not indicate which regions would be most affected.
The move comes as UPS continues to reduce shipments for Amazon, which it has previously described as “extraordinarily dilutive” to margins. The company has been rebalancing its network to prioritise more profitable customers, particularly in healthcare and specialised logistics.
Despite the planned cuts, UPS reported quarterly revenue of $24.5 billion for the final three months of last year and forecast a surprise rise in full-year revenue to $89.7 billion, signalling resilience in parts of its business.
The workforce reduction follows a significant downsizing last year. UPS cut 48,000 jobs and closed 93 facilities in 2025 as part of its turnaround plan. It said a further 24 facilities will close in the first half of this year.
“We’re in the final six months of our Amazon accelerated glide-down plan,” chief executive Carol Tomé said, adding that UPS intends to reduce Amazon volumes by another one million parcels per day across 2026 while continuing to reconfigure its network.
According to its 2024 annual report, UPS employed around 490,000 people globally, including nearly 78,000 in management roles. Much of its workforce is unionised.
Alongside the restructuring, UPS confirmed it is retiring its MD-11 cargo aircraft fleet, which accounts for about 9% of its planes, following a fatal crash in Louisville, Kentucky, in November. The aircraft have been grounded since the incident.
UPS shares closed slightly higher in New York trading on Tuesday, suggesting investors remain supportive of the company’s margin-led reset. The group said it will continue to reassess capacity and costs as it pivots away from low-yield volumes and towards steadier, higher-value growth.