UPS is planning to cut 525 jobs in Belgium, more than half of its entire workforce in the country, the Christian trade Union ACV denounced to local outlets.
ACV secretary Hans Elsen told the Belga News Agency reports that that UPS allegedly made the job cut announcement on Tuesday during a works council meeting. According to Elsen, UPS employs around 800 people.
“This affects drivers as well as parcel sorters and staff responsible for customs formalities,” Elsen reportedly said.
“It’s appalling to plunge all these families into uncertainty a week before the summer holidays,” Elsen stressed. “These aren’t the sort of discussions you have just as everyone is going on holiday.”
Elsen detailed that the majority of the staff works at UPS’s Diegem branch — a site that went on strike in 2025 due to “concerns about the company’s future” in the Belgian town. Elsen further detailed to the Belga News Agency that UPS also has a distribution center in Lummen, Limburg, but noted, “It is not yet clear whether this is also affected.”
Speaking with the Belgian public broadcaster VRT, Elsen asserted that it is the suspicion of the ACV trade union that UPS allegedly wants to “replace permanent contracts with cheaper freelancers.”
The Christian trade union ACV, for its part, told the outlet that the volume of parcels handled by UPS has fallen “slightly” but asserted that it is “not such an extent” to justify the reduction in workforce.
“Management would like to begin negotiations on a redundancy plan next week, but the unions want to consult among their members first. This meeting will take place on Wednesday,” the Belga News Agency reported.
In a statement shared with the Belga News Agency, UPS said it would not comment on “speculation,” as a matter of principle, but noted that it is “constantly exploring ways to improve the customer experience and ensure the continuity of its services, in response to changing market demand”
“As part of this, we are evaluating various options for our operations in Belgium,” the statement read.
UPS announced earlier this year that it planned to cut its workforce by 30,000 in 2026 as part of a plan to cut expenses. The company reportedly has about 490,000 employees worldwide.