UPS to cut 30,000 jobs amid continued reduction of volume of Amazon packages

UPS executives said Tuesday that they expect to cut 30,000 positions as part of cuts to the amount of Amazon packages that UPS ships each day.

“Looking at the variable costs associated with the Amazon volume decline, in 2026, we plan to reduce total operational hours by approximately 25 million hours. In terms of semi-variable costs, we expect to reduce operational positions by up to 30,000,” UPS CFO Brian Dykes said on the company’s fourth-quarter earnings call Tuesday, as transcribed by Seeking Alpha.

UPS set a goal of reducing the amount of Amazon packages in its shipping network by 50% over 18 months, and plans to reduce the daily volume of Amazon shipments by another 1 million pieces over the course of 2026, UPS CEO Carol Tome said on the call.

Over the course of 2025, UPS reduced the daily volume of Amazon shipments by about 1 million pieces, Ms. Tome said, netting $3.5 billion in savings. The company also cut 48,000 jobs in 2025, on top of the 30,000 now due to be axed.

Amazon is the company’s largest customer.

When the Amazon “glide-down” was announced in late January 2025, Ms. Tome said that “Amazon is our largest customer, but it’s not our most profitable customer. Its margin is very dilutive to the U.S. domestic business,” according to Supply Chain Dive.

Amazon spokesperson Kelly Nantel told Supply Chain Dive at the time that “due to their operational needs, UPS requested a reduction in volume and we certainly respect their decision. We’ll continue to partner with them and many other carriers to serve our customers.”