UPS is laying off more employees amid effort to boost profitability

Sandy Springs-based UPS 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 Monday night 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.

“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. “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, the most recent quarterly results show. 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%.

Along with the job cuts, a top executive at UPS is leaving the company. Laura Lane, chief corporate affairs and sustainability officer, is leaving the company at the end of the month. She oversees public policy and government affairs, sustainability, the UPS Foundation, public relations and employee communications, and has worked at UPS since 2011.

Rocky economic conditions and lost business dating 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 also has 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.

As part of those efforts, UPS is continuing to make acquisitions, including an announcement Tuesday that the company is acquiring German health care logistics firms Frigo-Trans and its sister company BPL. The acquisition is aimed at expanding cold chain capabilities for UPS Healthcare customers in Europe with temperature-sensitive and urgent logistics needs.

UPS did not disclose the value and terms of the transaction, which is expected to close in the first quarter of 2025.

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