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United Parcel Service announced on Tuesday that it will eliminate up to 30,000 operational roles and shutter 24 additional facilities in 2026 as part of a strategic pivot toward higher-margin shipments. This follows a massive restructuring in 2025, during which the world’s largest delivery firm cut 48,000 jobs and closed 93
buildings. The company expects the combined efforts—including driver buyouts—to generate approximately $3 billion in savings throughout this year.
UPS said in January last year that it would accelerate a plan to slash millions of low-profit deliveries for Amazon.com, its largest customer and a growing delivery rival, calling the business "extraordinarily dilutive" to margins.
The workforce reduction 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 on a post-earnings call.
"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," CEO Carol Tome said on the call.
Shares of the company, which topped Wall Street estimates for fourth-quarter results and forecast a surprise rise in annual revenue, were up 2.8% in early trading. Shares of rival FedEx rose 2.5%.
UPS had about 490,000 employees with nearly 78,000 in management, according to its 2024 annual report.
The company is also looking to rebuild its profitability and stabilize volumes following the end of U.S. duty-free, "de minimis" low-value, e-commerce shipments.
"In 2025, we operated through a very dynamic macro environment, including significant change in global trade policies and increasing geopolitical concerns," CEO Tome added.
UPS recorded a non-cash, after-tax charge of $137 million related to writing off the MD-11 fleet following a deadly November crash. The company completed the retirement of the fleet in the fourth quarter.
The company projected 2026 revenue to be $89.7 billion, compared to the $88.7 billion it reported last year. Analysts on average had expected revenue of $87.94 billion, according to data compiled by LSEG.
UPS expects revenue to fall in the first half of the year as it completes the Amazon "glide-down," then rise sequentially in the second half once the reductions are complete.
