UPS has announced plans to reduce its workforce by up to 30,000 employees this year as part of an ongoing effort to scale back deliveries for Amazon, the company’s largest customer, which it says have weighed heavily on profitability. The job reductions will mainly come through voluntary buyouts for full-time drivers and by not replacing staff who leave the business, the package delivery giant said.
The move is part of a broader turnaround strategy aimed at reshaping UPS’s network and focusing on higher-margin customers. Chief executive Carol Tomé described the company’s plan as nearing completion. “We’re in the final six months of our Amazon accelerated glide-down plan and for the full year 2026, we intend to glide down another million pieces per day while continuing to reconfigure our network,” she said.
UPS has long described Amazon shipments as “extraordinarily dilutive” to profit margins. Last year, the company said it would deliberately reduce its reliance on the e-commerce giant and pivot toward more profitable sectors, including healthcare and time-critical logistics. Analysts said the strategy reflects the changing dynamics of the US delivery market, where Amazon has rapidly expanded its in-house logistics operations. In 2024, Amazon handled an estimated 6.3 billion deliveries in the US, surpassing both UPS and FedEx, and is expected to overtake the US Postal Service as the country’s largest delivery operator by 2028.
The announcement accompanies stronger-than-expected financial results for UPS. The company reported revenues of $24.5 billion (£17.7 billion) for the final quarter of 2025 and forecast full-year revenue of $89.7 billion for 2026, despite planned reductions in Amazon volumes.
The job cuts follow an aggressive cost-cutting programme in 2025, when UPS eliminated 48,000 positions and closed 93 facilities as part of the same strategy. The company said it will close an additional 24 facilities in the first half of 2026 as it continues to streamline operations. UPS employs roughly 490,000 people globally, including nearly 78,000 in management roles, with much of its workforce unionised.
In a separate announcement, UPS said it would permanently retire its fleet of MD-11 cargo aircraft after a fatal crash in Louisville, Kentucky, in November. The aircraft, which account for about 9% of the company’s fleet, have been grounded since the incident.
Shares of UPS ended slightly higher on Tuesday in New York trading following the announcements. Analysts said the strategic shift is aimed at improving profit margins, simplifying operations, and building a more resilient business model focused on premium and specialised logistics services. By reducing dependence on Amazon, UPS hopes to concentrate on sectors with higher profitability and less exposure to volume-driven pressures, marking a significant shift in the company’s long-term strategy.
