UPS to cut 12,000 jobs as delivery demand slows

UPS announced plans to cut 12,000 jobs this year amid a slowdown in delivery volume, a plan the shipping giant says could save the company $1 billion. 

The daily average shipping volume is down 7.4 percent domestically, the company reported during a company earnings call Tuesday, and there has been an 8.3 percent decrease in domestic shipping. 

UPS announced its fourth quarter revenue was $24.9 billion, down 7.8 percent from $27 billion the year before.  

Amid the declining revenue and job cuts, the company also reported returning $7.6 billion to shareholders through dividends and stock buybacks. 

The move comes less than six months after the Teamsters union ratified a new contract with UPS to avert a strike over the summer.  

“2023 was a unique, and quite candidly, difficult and disappointing year. We experienced declines in volume, revenue and operating profits and all three of our business segments,” UPS CEO Carol Tomé said Tuesday. 

Tomé also announced that UPS would ask employees to return to the office five days a week this year and said the company is exploring options to sell its “highly cyclical” freight brokerage business, Coyote. 

Shares of the package delivery company slid in early trading following the announcement.