Giants laid off employees, freight forwarding and logistics collapsed first
Sunny Worldwide LogisticsIt is a logistics company with more than 20 years of transportation experience, focusing on markets such as Europe, the United States, Canada, Australia, and Southeast Asia. It is more of a cargo owner than a cargo owner~
As we enter the fourth quarter of 2025, a massive “wave of layoffs” is sweeping the world at an alarming rate.
Recently,AmazonThe announcement of layoffs was like a bombshell and instantly became a hot topic in the global logistics and e-commerce industries. According to Reuters, Amazon plans to lay off up to 30,000 employees in late October 2025, mainly in human resources, logistics, payment, gaming and cloud computing departments.
The company is currently working to cut expenses to make up for the impact of over-hiring during peak demand during the epidemic.
Judging from the number of employees, the scale of the layoffs represents only a small part of Amazon's total global employees of approximately 1.54 million, but accounts for 10% of its approximately 350,000 corporate employees. This will be Amazon's largest layoff since it began laying off about 27,000 people at the end of 2022.
Over the past two years, Amazon has cut a handful of jobs across multiple divisions, including devices, communications, podcasts and more. This new round of layoffs may affect multiple departments within Amazon, including the human resources department called "People Experience and Technology" (People Experience and Technology), the equipment and services department, and the operations department. The number of layoffs could change in the future as Amazon adjusts its financial priorities, people familiar with the matter said.
It is understood that this yearUPSThe scale of layoffs is even more shocking. As of the third quarter of 2025, UPS has laid off a total of 48,000 employees (including 34,000 operational positions and 14,000 management positions) and closed 93 factories in response to business reductions. This number exceeds the company's previously announced layoff plans.
At the same time, other shipping and freight forwarding logistics companies are not immune.
Recently, two world-renowned freight forwarders, Kuehne Nagel and DSV, have also reported layoffs. According to foreign media reports, the world’s largest maritime freight forwarderKuehneNagelAfter an overall setback in third-quarter performance, it announced layoffs of 1,000 to 1,500 full-time positions as a core measure to deal with "logistics excess and weak demand."
Danish logistics giantDSVIt plans to lay off 6-8% of its employees, which is expected to involve 10,000 to 13,000 employees. According to industry insiders, DSV is reorganizing its North American and Asian business units and plans to reduce dependence on manpower through automation and digitalization to cope with the dual pressures of declining global freight demand and rising operating costs.
Its management explained that this was mainly due to "strong headwinds" brought about by weak market demand, declining freight volumes and currency fluctuations.
On the logistics side, this "efficiency"-led wave of layoffs is accelerating the survival of the fittest in the industry. With the integration and efficiency improvement of leading logistics companies, and the strong expansion of Amazon's self-operated logistics, the living space of small and medium-sized freight forwarders has been further compressed, and the market will no longer tolerate traditional logistics service providers that are inefficient and lack technological empowerment.
During the epidemic, it was hard to find a container and prices soared. Shipping giants made a lot of money and attracted a crazy influx of capital and shipping capacity. But the other side of prosperity is demand overdraft.
As global consumption gradually returns to normal, the decline in demand and the inertia of production capacity have created a new imbalance. Since the beginning of this year, everything from Amazon to UPS to Kuehne Nagel and DSV have all been phased reactions of the industry after experiencing cooling demand and structural adjustments.
First of all, e-commerce demand, which was boosted during the epidemic, is returning to rationality. Changes in the consumption structure are reshaping the logistics demand curve. UPS's reduction in Amazon's business and Amazon's own reduction in warehousing manpower reflect this "de-bubble" trend.
Secondly, global supply chains tend to be short-chained and regionalized. According to McKinsey's latest report, about 38% of European and American manufacturers have partially transferred their supply chains to Mexico, Eastern Europe and Southeast Asia in the past three years. As a result, demand for long-chain transportation has declined, and profits from intercontinental freight have been compressed.
In addition, the development of AI technology is also promoting the adjustment of corporate organizational structures. Some traditional positions have been replaced, and the company's human resources structure has been adjusted accordingly, starting the transition to "efficiency-oriented growth."
