UPS, Louisville’s fifth largest employer, is cutting 20,000 jobs because of lowering shipments from Amazon.

From the Associated Press:

UPS is looking to slash about 20,000 jobs and close more than 70 facilities as it drastically reduces the amount of Amazon shipments it handles.

The package delivery company said Tuesday that it anticipates making the job cuts this year. It anticipates closing 73 leased and owned buildings by the end of June. UPS said that it is still reviewing its network and may identify more buildings to be shuttered.

“The actions we are taking to reconfigure our network and reduce cost across our business could not be timelier,” CEO Carol Tomé said in a statement on Tuesday. “The macro environment may be uncertain, but with our actions, we will emerge as an even stronger, more nimble UPS.”

In January UPS announced that it had reached a deal with Amazon, its biggest customer, to lower its volume by more than 50% by the second half of 2026.

Mixed feelings here. UPS is a huge local employer (lots of UofL students have jobs there to pay their way through school), and Louisville is a major hub for the shipper because of the city’s central location. On the other hand, we live in the flight path UPS uses to land at our airport, Standiford Field, and when holiday seasons roll around, the roar of jets flying directly overhead makes our houses shake.

But UPS is pulling a typical capitalist move. Reduce volume but jack up shipping prices. Then cut workers, because the deal they had with Amazon was costing it more money than it was worth, and they won’t need the same number of workers to deliver fewer packages at higher shipping costs. In the end, more money for UPS execs at bonus time and no money for fired workers who were just trying to feed their families or finance their education.