USA 
United Kingdom
UPS has announced it will cut 20,000 jobs and shutter dozens of facilities in response to global trade volatility and a looming reduction in business from Amazon, its largest customer.
The logistics group confirmed on Tuesday that it will close 73 sites by the end of June, with the workforce reduction expected to save the company $3.5 billion by 2025.
The decision was disclosed alongside the firm’s Q1 2025 financial results, where revenue slipped by 0.7% to $21.5 billion compared to the same period last year. Despite the decline in top-line income, the firm posted a 0.9% increase in adjusted operating profit, which reached $1.7 billion.
Carol Tomé, CEO of UPS, told investors that the business must become leaner to navigate the impact of global economic disruption and policy shifts. “The world has not been faced with such enormous potential impacts to trade in more than 100 years,” she said. “The macro environment may be uncertain, but with our actions, we will emerge as an even stronger, more nimble UPS."
The company, which currently employs around 490,000 people, is taking early action amid signs of significant contraction in shipping volumes, particularly those linked to Amazon.
Amazon volume cuts to hit UPS operations
In January, UPS revealed that Amazon would slash its parcel volume with the courier by more than half by late 2026. The planned drop in volume comes as Amazon continues to scale up its own delivery capabilities, reducing reliance on external logistics partners like UPS.
This shift is already being felt in UPS’s operational planning. While the company did not disclose how many of the 20,000 positions being eliminated are tied directly to Amazon-linked operations, the customer’s decision is seen as a critical driver of the change.
Concerns have also emerged from the White House, which recently labelled reports of Amazon’s intention to display the level of cost added to goods by tariffs as a “hostile and political act”, highlighting the growing tensions between major players in the retail and logistics sectors.
No full-year forecast as UPS signals caution
In its earnings statement, UPS declined to provide an updated forecast for the remainder of 2025. “Given the current macro-economic uncertainty, the company is not providing any updates to its previously issued consolidated full-year outlook,” the business said.
While UPS is the first major US company to announce large-scale layoffs in response to current market conditions, its actions may prompt other multinationals to review headcount and cost structures as pressure from inflation, tariffs, and shifting client strategies builds.
Tomé emphasised that the restructuring is designed to better position UPS for long-term resilience. “These are difficult decisions, but necessary ones,” she said. “We are aligning our resources to where demand will be in the future.”
While other companies seem to be struggling to navigate their way through the current upheaval, UPS has at least been decisive in its actions, and while such wide-ranging job losses will have a huge effect on the business and its employees, the HR department now has some certainty around what happens next and its role within it.
