UPS stuns Wall Street as it announces it has cut 34,000 jobs this year - far more than planned
America's second-largest shipping company has cut more jobs than it initially expected.
On Tuesday, UPS revealed it has eliminated 34,000 operational jobs so far this year — a far steeper reduction than the 20,000 it projected in April.
The shipping and logistics giant is the latest company to announce huge corporate profits alongside job cuts.
The 34,000 eliminated positions were part of the biggest cost-cutting effort in company history. Combined with 14,000 management roles eliminated in late 2024, UPS has now cut around 48,000 positions as part of its sweeping restructuring push.
This year's staff reductions came after the company offered early retirement packages to thousands of drivers.
In July, union representatives, who represent more than 300,000 employees at the company, called the company's plans an 'illegal violation' of the national contract in which UPS committed to create 22,500 jobs.
But UPS needed a big change. Its profits have lagged behind other shipping competitors, and its stock has slumped 22 percent this year.
On Tuesday, UPS reported an operating profit of $1.8 billion in the past three months even as revenue slipped 2.6 percent. Shares jumped 7 percent after the company reported the steeper job losses.
UPS said around 34,000 jobs were slashed since January - higher than initial projections
The job cuts also came after UPS announced it would halve the number of Amazon deliveries it takes by January 2026.
Deliveries for Amazon made up around 12 percent of UPS's revenue in 2024, but margins on those shipments were thin.
UPS initially plotted the job cuts and the closure of 70 facilities to refocus on more lucrative markets such as healthcare and international deliveries.
A spokesperson told the Daily Mail the reductions are not part of a new round of layoffs, but rather an update on workforce changes already completed this year.
The company also said it closed 93 buildings — both leased and owned — during the first nine months of 2025.
Despite the deeper cuts, UPS said it still expects to achieve $3.5 billion in total cost savings this year.
'We are executing the most significant strategic shift in our company’s history,' Carol Tomé, the company's CEO, said.
'With the holiday shipping season nearly upon us, we are positioned to run the most efficient peak in our history.'
UPS CEO Carol Tomé believes the actions being taken to reconfigure its network and cost reduction 'could not be timelier'
The company expects to save $3.5 billion with the job cuts in the next year
In the US, layoffs have risen 140 percent from a year ago, even though corporate earnings are strong and stocks are on a record pace.
This morning, Amazon issued 14,000 pink slips to white collar staffers as it turned to AI.
'Some may ask why we're reducing roles when the company is performing well,' Beth Galetti, an HR lead at Amazon, wrote in a public note.
'What we need to remember is that the world is changing quickly. This generation of AI is the most transformative technology we've seen since the internet, and it's enabling companies to innovate much faster than ever before.'
General Motors, America's biggest car company, has announced two batches of jobs cuts in the past week.
Companies like Target, Procter & Gamble, and Walmart have slashed thousands of mid-level corporate jobs this year.
Staff cuts have been even more pronounced in the tech sector, as firms increasingly replace human employees with hyper-intelligent machines.
Microsoft, one of the leading firms investing in AI, is expected to lay off thousands of employees next month as it shifts resources toward deeper investments.
And Intel — which makes processors that power millions of Dell, HP, and Lenovo computers — announced it will slash 25,000 jobs this year as it battles to turn around its flagging fortunes.
Amazon CEO Andy Jassy recently said the quiet part out loud: the technology will uproot thousands of Americans from their jobs.
