UPS Sees Economic Recovery Speeding Up

UPS said Friday the economy and shipping demand are improving faster than the company anticipated, but the package carrier announced new cost-cutting plans that will eliminate 1,800 jobs across the United States.

The job cuts will come in management and administrative positions, the company said, as UPS restructures and streamlines its domestic management structure.

“We believe this will allow us to sharpen our focus on profitable growth while being even more nimble in serving our customers,” said UPS Chairman and CEO Scott Davis.

The company expects to offer severance packages to about 1,100 workers and to eliminate the rest of the jobs through what it called normal attrition.

UPS announced the cuts as the company said it expects to report a sharply higher profit in the fourth quarter that ended Dec. 31.

The company now projects earnings for the quarter as much as 30 percent better than its previous guidance, which would push the net profit sharply higher than the $549 million UPS reported in last year’s third quarter.