The American courier and parcel delivery company UPS will cut 12,000 jobs, its CEO Carol Tomé announced on Tuesday during the conference call to present the results.
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This social plan will enable savings of one billion dollars in 2024, said the boss.
The company, headquartered in Atlanta (southeast), currently employs around 500,000 people.
When contacted by AFP, UPS said these job cuts would take place worldwide.
Carol Tomé explained that this reduction in staff was the result of a restructuring of the group and not the consequence of the slowdown in its activities in recent months.
“It’s a change in the way we work,” said the managing director. “Once volumes increase, we do not expect to rebuild these positions.”
UPS has launched a major program to automate its mail and package processing centers. In particular, he founded a location called UPS Velocity in Louisville, Kentucky, where some of the operations are carried out by around 700 robots.
The announcement comes as the company on Tuesday reported a 7.8% year-on-year decline in fourth-quarter revenue, hurt by a slowdown in its operations.
“2023 was a unique and difficult year,” concluded Ms. Tomé.
The market reacted negatively to this unpleasant surprise and at around 2:55pm GMT the stock was down 8.31%.
One of UPS's main competitors, FedEx, cut about 29,000 jobs in fiscal 2023, which ended in late May.
Parcel transport companies have faced a decline in parcel flows since the end of 2022 following an outbreak caused by the coronavirus pandemic.