United Parcel Service (UPS) plans to reduce operational positions by up to 30,000 in 2026 as part of its Amazon.com (AMZN) glide-down strategy, Chief Financial Officer Brian Dykes said in the Q4 earnings call Tuesday, according to a FactSet transcript.
This would be carried out mainly through employee attrition, and the company may offer a second voluntary separation program for full-time drivers, Dykes said.
The company will also close 24 facilities in H1 and is reviewing more buildings for possible closure later in the year, alongside plans to expand automation across its network, Dykes said.
These cost reductions are expected to generate $3 billion in savings related to the Amazon glide-down, he said, adding that the company intends to reduce Amazon volume by about one million packages per day and reduce total operating hours by about 25 million hours.
Dykes said the company expects the year to be uneven, with revenue and costs in the second half looking "meaningfully different" than in H1. He said the company expects revenue to fall year over year in H1 due to lower volumes, but in H2, the company expects high single-digit operating profit growth.
United Parcel Service shares were up more than 2% in recent trading Tuesday.
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