UPS Offering Buyouts to Management Workers

By Paul Ziobro 

United Parcel Service Inc. is planning to offer buyouts to some management employees, according to a person familiar with the matter, as Chief Executive Carol Tomé aims to trim payroll costs at the delivery giant.

The Atlanta-based company is expected to present the buyouts to qualifying management in non-operations roles on Friday, the person said. The workers would leave in two phases: by the end of 2020, and mid-2021, the person said.

A spokesman for the company confirmed it was offering buyouts, but declined to say who was eligible and how many jobs UPS was looking to shed.

"UPS is providing voluntary severance offers to some employees as part of its transformation," the spokesman said. "Aligning our talent with the needs of our company and customers is critical to becoming a stronger, more agile UPS."

UPS had nearly 500,000 employees at the end of last year, including 87,000 in management positions. UPS last offered buyouts to workers in 2018, an initiative that cut about $200 million in annual expenses.

Ms. Tomé, a longtime UPS board member who recently served as Home Depot Inc.'s finance chief, has been trying to cut costs and run the company more efficiently. On last month's earnings call, she spoke of making the company "better, not bigger," including eliminating some services drawing little demand.

"We have initiatives underway," Ms. Tomé said on the company's earnings call last month. "We're calling it Transformation 2.0 and 3.0 to drive continued productivity and efficiency in our company."

Demand for UPS's shipping services has surged since the coronavirus pandemic struck, as shoppers stayed home and bought more products online -- and a reduction in international passenger flights increased business for UPS's air network.

To offset some of the increased costs from processing holiday-like volumes throughout the year, UPS has sought to extract higher rates through surcharges on large shippers.

UPS is now entering the busiest part of the shipping season ahead of the holidays and is hiring around 100,000 workers to handle the expected surge before Christmas.

Write to Paul Ziobro at [e-mail]

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

September 17, 2020 17:56 ET (21:56 GMT)

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