UPS closing South Boston facility, cutting jobs as layoffs are announced nationwide
A UPS facility in South Boston is one of 73 locations being closed nationwide as the shipping company announces thousands of layoffs.
The former customer service center on Summer Street is closing permanently and job cuts will begin on May 23. In a WARN Act notice to the city dated March 21, UPS said 62 part-time hourly employees will lose their jobs.
The company said it will offer work to affected employees in other positions where possible.
Earlier this year, UPS said it would be looking to save $1 billion "through an end-to-end process redesign."
"As we announced in January, we are making strategic changes to optimize the volume in our network, improve efficiency and continue to deliver on our customer-first strategy," a UPS spokesperson said. "The changes underway include closing a small percentage of our U.S. operations."
UPS announces 20,000 layoffs
UPS executives said on an earnings call Tuesday that the company is laying off 20,000 workers as it delivers fewer packages from Amazon. UPS says this will make its business more efficient.
"We are reducing the amount of volume we deliver for Amazon by more than 50% by June 2026. Associated with this volume reduction, we are undertaking the largest network reconfiguration in our history," UPS chief financial officer Brian Dykes said on an earnings call. "The first phase of our network reconfiguration includes 164 operational closures, including 73 building closures by the end of June of this year. And there's more to come."
Some of the employees affected by layoffs in Boston are union workers represented by Teamsters Local 25.
"United Parcel Service is contractually obligated to create 30,000 Teamsters jobs under our current national master agreement," the Teamsters said in a statement. "If UPS wants to continue to downsize corporate management, the Teamsters won't stand in its way. But if the company intends to violate our contract or makes any attempt to go after hard-fought, good-paying Teamsters jobs, UPS will be in for a hell of a fight."
