UPS to cut 30,000 jobs in 2026 as business transformation plans continue

UPS chief financial officer Brian Dykes told investors Tuesday it was a “tactical move” to shift positions and network infrastructure to match new, lower volume and delivery levels.

Last year, UPS also cut approximately 48,000 jobs, including 15,000 fewer seasonal positions, and closed 93 buildings. UPS has about 490,000 employees, including more than 12,000 in metro Atlanta.

The company’s full-year net income also declined, to $5.57 billion in 2025, down 3.6% from $5.78 billion in 2024. But UPS’ fourth quarter net income was up 4.1% to nearly $1.8 billion.

In 2025, the company announced a major rollback in its relationship with its largest customer, Amazon. It also cut back part of its business with the U.S. Postal Service — both changes meaning lower shipping volumes and less revenue.

It amounted to the “largest network reconfiguration in UPS history,” the company declared.

Those changes saved the company approximately $3.5 billion, and it expects to save an additional $3 billion in 2026, including from the job cuts.

Leaders said they are enacting a long-term strategy that sets the company up for success.

“We will exit 2026 with a leaner, more agile U.S. network, one that’s built for growth and sustained margin expansion,” UPS CEO Carol Tomé told investors Tuesday.

In 2026, the company expects revenue to be relatively flat, at approximately $89.7 billion. But Tomé cautioned the first half of the year will likely be down because of the revenue impacts from completing the Amazon rollback, outsourcing delivery of certain packages to the Postal Service and adjustments to its international business in response to trade policy changes.

There will also be increased costs in the first few months of the year from the company’s retirement of its entire MD-11 fleet of cargo aircraft, after a fatal crash in November of one the planes in Louisville, Kentucky.

There will be a lag on when the benefits from the company’s network changes start to materialize, but Tomé said she expects the second half of the year to see operating profit growth.

“June of 2026 will be the inflection point. Our strategy is not a ‘shrink the company’ strategy, but rather one where we grow in the best parts of the market,” she said.

The company sees opportunities in segments like complex health care logistics, e-commerce returns, international shipping lanes, offering fulfillment and distribution services to small and medium-sized businesses and growing its global supply chain presence.

UPS has been acquiring companies like specialized health care logistics providers Andlauer Healthcare Group, Frigo-Trans and BPL to that end.

UPS is often seen as a bellwether for the broader economy, and just as businesses and consumers are adapting to shifting tariffs and trade policies, so too is UPS.

“We expect the dynamic environment we experienced in 2025 will continue in 2026, primarily due to the tariff and de minimis policy changes that will continue to drive changes in trade lane mix,” UPS CFO Dykes told investors.

The company’s U.S. imports were down more than 24% in 2025 compared with the year prior, led by a decline in the average daily package volume from Canada, China and Mexico.

But UPS’ international segment saw a 2.5% increase in revenue in the last three months of the year compared with the year prior, driven by higher revenue per package despite lower volumes.

“We’ve actually got double-digit growth going out of a lot of the Asian countries, but they’re going to Europe and India,” Kate Gutmann, who leads UPS’ international, health care and supply chain solutions, told investors.

Looking ahead, the company’s leaders see this year as key for its long-term growth.

“2026 is the pivotal year for UPS,” Tomé said.

— Staff writer Emma Hurt contributed to this report.