UPS cites Trump tariffs as it announces expected layoffs of 20,000 workers
The United Parcel Service (UPS) is expected to cut about 20,000 jobs in 2025 as a part of a larger plan to reduce costs and increase profit, citing 'changes in the global trade policy and new or increased tariffs'.
UPS announced the layoffs on Tuesday in its first quarter earnings report. The parcel delivery service said it made consolidated revenues of $21.5bn, compared to $21.7bn about the same time a year ago. Additionally, the company said it would be shuttering 73 leased and owned buildings by the end of June of this year.
'The actions we are taking to reconfigure our network and reduce cost across our business could not be timelier,' Carol Tomé, UPS chief executive officer said in a statement.
'The macro environment may be uncertain, but with our actions, we will emerge as an even stronger, more nimble UPS.'
The service currently has roughly 490,000 employees, about 330,000 of whom are members of the Teamsters union. Last year, UPS said it cut its workforce by 12,000 jobs. In Tuesday's report, the company said it planned to make these latest reductions to its 'operational workforce', or those who are directly involved in package sorting, transport and delivery.
The job cuts come as Donald Trump's sweeping tariffs are discouraging some UPS customers from shipping as many goods, and Americans are anticipating continuous impact on US and global trade.
The company cited 'current macro-economic uncertainty' as preventing it from providing any updates to its previously issued forecasts for revenue and full-year outlook.
The report also said UPS planned to expand on its consolidations of facilities and workforce as well as implement an 'end-to-end process redesign' resulting from anticipated 'lower volumes' from the company's largest customer, Amazon. The Bezos-owned retail giant accounted for 11.8% of overall revenue for UPS in 2024, according to CNBC.
The Teamsters union responded to the latest earnings report by reminding UPS that it was contractually obligated to create 30,000 Teamsters jobs under the current agreement.
'If UPS wants to continue to downsize corporate management, the Teamsters won't stand in its way,' the Teamsters general president, Sean O'Brien, said in a statement. 'But if the company intends to violate our contract or makes any attempt to go after hard-fought, good-paying Teamsters jobs, UPS will be in for a hell of a fight.'
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