World's largest delivery firm to axe 30,000 more jobs as tariffs bite
The world’s largest package delivery firm is preparing for another brutal round of job cuts as automation accelerates and trade pressures bite.
United Parcel Service said it will shed around 30,000 operational roles in 2026, according to its latest earnings call.
Bosses said they hoped the cuts would come through staff choosing to leave rather than outright firings.
‘This will be accomplished through attrition, and we expect to offer a second voluntary separation program for full-time drivers,’ chief financial officer Brian Dykes said.
The layoffs follow a brutal restructuring drive that has already seen roughly 48,000 jobs eliminated across 2025, including management roles, as UPS scales back lower-margin deliveries for Amazon. The company says that shift alone saved $3.5 billion.
The announcement immediately reignited tensions with the union representing most of UPS’s US workforce. Teamsters president Sean O’Brien accused the company of sidelining workers while profits remain strong.
'Reminder: Teamsters overwhelmingly rejected UPS’s insulting payoff last year. We still know our worth,' he posted on X.
'UPS must honor our contract and reward our members. Anything else they want to try, Teamsters aren't buying.'
Another 30,000 UPS workers are on the chopping block this year as the parcel delivery service looks to further reduce its network, volume of deliveries and costs.
UPS is also planning on closing 24 facilities with automation plans this year.
Dykes said UPS would shutter 24 sorting facilities, on top of 93 closed last year, as the company doubled down on automation across its network.
CEO Carol Tome said the move to robots drastically cut costs.
'The cost per piece in these automated buildings is 28 percent less than the cost per piece in our conventional buildings,' she said.
UPS is also feeling the impact of higher tariffs and the closure of the so-called ‘de minimis’ loophole, which previously allowed imports valued under $800 to enter the US tariff-free.
After President Donald Trump moved to shut it, costs rose sharply for low-cost retailers such as Temu and Shein - squeezing shipping volumes UPS now says it wants to ‘remove’ from its network.
The warning comes as cracks widen across the US labor market. Revised government data this month showed the economy lost 173,000 jobs in October — the worst monthly performance since the pandemic — while December added just 50,000 positions.
According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the US added only about 584,000 jobs in 2025, making it the weakest year for employment growth outside a recession since 2003 — a grim backdrop as corporate America signals that automation, tariffs and profit pressures are far from done.
Last summer and fall saw a string of big US firms announce layoffs.
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Carol Tomé, chief executive of United Parcel Service, has announced plans to cut 30,000 operational jobs in 2026 as it accelerates automation and shuts more facilities to lower costs
GM — which owns Chevrolet, GMC, Cadillac, and Buick — has laid off workers in recent months
General Motors, America's biggest car company, announced two batches of jobs cuts in October.
Companies like Target, Procter & Gamble, and Walmart also slashed thousands of mid-level corporate jin 2025.
Staff cuts have been even more pronounced in the tech sector, as firms increasingly replace human employees with hyper-intelligent machines.
Intel — which makes processors that power millions of Dell, HP, and Lenovo computers — announced it would slash 25,000 jobs.
Much of is down to the roll out of AI, robots and automation. As Amazon CEO Andy Jassy said in June: the technology will uproot thousands of Americans from their jobs.
