UPS to Lay Off More Employees to Boost Profitability
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UPS Inc. is laying off more of its employees, after earlier this year announcing it was cutting 12,000 jobs in its management ranks.
The company did not specify how many employees are losing their jobs in the latest round of cuts, but said Sept. 9 that the layoffs are part of ongoing efforts since the January announcement of reductions. It was not clear which departments were affected and how many of the cuts might be in the Atlanta area.
UPS ranks No. 1 on the Transport Topics Top 100 list of the largest for-hire carriers in North America and No. 4 on the TT Top 100 list of the largest logistics companies.
“Earlier this year, we announced efforts to align the size of our management staff with the size of our company,” a UPS spokesperson said in a written statement Sept. 9. “We continue to look for ways to increase productivity through process improvements, technology advancements and organization realignment.”
UPS has about 500,000 employees, but has had declines in business from peaks seen during the COVID-19 pandemic, when stay-at-home protocols drove explosive growth in online shopping and deliveries to doorsteps.
The job cuts came in force after the company reported early this year that it saw declines in volume, revenue and operating profit in all of its business segments for 2023, which UPS CEO Carol Tomé called “a difficult and disappointing year.”
Things have not improved, according to the most recent quarterly results. In July, UPS reported a decline in operating profit for the first half of 2024 compared with 2023. That includes a second quarter with a 32% year-over-year decline in net income and a 1.1% decline in total revenue, while operating expenses grew 3.1%.
Tome
Rocky economic conditions and lost business dating back to labor negotiations last year led UPS to say previously that it plans to continue to “align staffing in our operations to the needs of our business.”
That means UPS has also been cutting jobs in its operations by closing facilities and reducing staffing, while moving toward more automation.
The company aims to cut billions in costs over the next five years, and will focus more on areas that could be more profitable, including business with the health care industry and small- and medium-size businesses.
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