Manufacturing
United Parcel Service has endured another difficult year. Shares of the company have fallen nearly 30 percent as U.S. revenue and parcel volumes dropped, and margins slipped far below the levels seen during the pandemic. Against this backdrop, UPS has pursued one of its most sweeping restructurings in recent history by eliminating tens of thousands of jobs, closing dozens of facilities, and embedding artificial intelligence and automation deeper into its global logistics network.
The scale of workforce reductions has been striking. In the first nine months of 2025, UPS eliminated about 34,000 operational roles and another 14,000 management positions. That followed a broader downsizing trend: headcount fell from 543,000 at the end of 2020 to 500,000 by the close of 2023, an 8 percent reduction. Management has tied these cuts to a cost-savings plan targeting $3.5 billion this year, with $2.2 billion already achieved by the end of the third quarter. Some of the reductions came through voluntary driver retirements, which cost under $75–80 million but are expected to recoup their expense within a year.
Pulling Back from Amazon
Alongside headcount cuts, UPS has reduced the size of its physical network. The company has shuttered between 90 and 95 facilities, reflecting a reduced need for capacity as it winds down a significant portion of its business with Amazon. Executives said UPS is three quarters into a six-quarter “glide down” of Amazon volumes, describing the contracts as lower-margin and lower-yielding. While the company continues to handle Amazon’s returns business which remains profitable, the retrenchment has created space to reconfigure its operations and increase automation.
