After Amazon Breakup, UPS to Cut 20,000 Jobs
Introduction
United Parcel Service (UPS), one of the world’s largest logistics and package delivery companies, announced a sweeping plan to cut 20,000 operational jobs and close 73 facilities in 2025. This move comes as UPS restructures its business following a strategic decision to significantly reduce its reliance on Amazon, its largest customer and formerly a key driver of its parcel volume. The workforce reduction, representing about 4% of UPS’s global staff of nearly 490,000, marks one of the most significant shakeups in the company’s recent history. The decision reflects both the shifting dynamics of the e-commerce and logistics sectors and the mounting pressures from changing trade policies, rising costs, and evolving customer relationships.
The Amazon Breakup: Background and Strategic Shift
The Relationship
For years, Amazon was UPS’s single largest customer, accounting for approximately 12% of the company’s total revenue and as much as a quarter of its U.S. parcel volume. The partnership was mutually beneficial during the e-commerce boom, with Amazon relying on UPS’s vast delivery network to reach customers across the country and UPS enjoying a steady stream of high-volume business.
