UPS Cuts Holiday Hiring Again: A Lean-Season Plan for Small Businesses

UPS said on Oct. 7, 2026, that it will hire 100,000 seasonal workers across the US for the holidays, about 9% fewer than in 2025 and its second straight year of smaller seasonal recruiting, Reuters reported. The same day, Target said it will lean first on extra hours for current staff and an On Demand pool of about 43,000 store workers before hiring seasonal help.

Put together, the two biggest holiday-hiring announcements of the week point the same way: large employers are running the peak season leaner. For a small online store or local service business, that changes how you should plan your own staffing, shipping promises and customer messages for the next 12 weeks.

What did UPS and Target announce?

UPS. The seasonal workers will sort, move and deliver packages during the rush, when daily parcel volumes tend to double, Reuters reported. UPS hired 125,000 seasonal workers in 2024 and 15,000 fewer in 2025, according to its 2025 annual report. In January, the company said it would cut up to 30,000 operational jobs and close 24 facilities in 2026 as it scales down shipments for Amazon, its largest customer. Reuters also tied the smaller hiring plan to a trimmed permanent workforce and inflation pressure on consumer spending.

Bloomberg Law reported that UPS is pairing the hiring with technology: it expects to deliver more than 4 billion RFID-enabled packages by the end of 2026, it has a new Protected Delivery service that requires the recipient to give a PIN before a package is released, and it has new or upgraded automated facilities in Denver, St. Paul, Syracuse and Portland.

Target. In its Oct. 7 staffing note, Target said it starts by offering extra hours to current team members, then taps its On Demand team, then hires seasonal workers across its 2,000-plus stores and 60-plus supply chain facilities based on local demand. Seasonal pay starts at $15 to $24 an hour depending on role and location, and Target said more than half of last year's seasonal store workers stayed on after the holidays. It did not publish a total headcount.

Is this part of a bigger trend?

Yes. In its Sept. 22 outlook, outplacement firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas forecast that US retailers will add 450,000 jobs in the fourth quarter of 2026, down from 461,500 in the same quarter of 2025, which was the smallest seasonal gain since 2008. Challenger said retailers appear to be leaning "on existing staff and on-demand pools rather than committing to large seasonal waves this early."

It also noted that several big employers that used to post early targets have gone quiet. Target had announced 100,000 seasonal hires for several years. Amazon has hired 250,000 seasonal workers in each of the last three years and usually announces in mid-October, so its number is the next one to watch.

What does a leaner peak mean for small businesses?

Two things.

First, plan for less slack in the delivery network. Bloomberg Law reported that UPS is targeting a ninth straight year of on-time peak performance and adding automation. But a network running with fewer temporary workers leaves less room for error when volume spikes, and Reuters reported that daily volumes tend to double. Build your customer promises with a margin.

Second, staffing is a planning job, not a December scramble. The big retailers are showing the playbook: use the people you already have first, keep a bench of trusted part-timers, then hire for the gaps. That works at a five-person shop too.

What should you do before November?

1. Ask your current team first. Find out who wants extra hours in November and December, and put it in writing. That is Target's first step for a reason: trained people make fewer costly mistakes.
2. Build a small on-call list. Former employees, students home for break and reliable contractors who can pick up shifts on short notice. Agree on pay and how you'll contact them now.
3. Hire early and keep the good ones in mind. If you need seasonal help, post in October. Target said more than half its seasonal store workers stayed on, so treat seasonal hiring as a tryout, not just a stopgap.
4. Pad your shipping promises. Publish order-by dates once your carriers post their holiday cutoffs, then set your own cutoff a few days earlier. For high-value orders, ask your carrier whether a PIN or signature option such as UPS Protected Delivery is available for that shipment.
5. Write your customer messages now. Order confirmation, shipping delay, out-of-stock, appointment reminder and "we're closed" notes should be drafted, approved and ready to automate before the rush, not written at 11 p.m. on Dec. 18.
6. Put every shift and appointment in one calendar. A shared calendar everyone can see beats a group text when two people call in sick on the same Saturday.

We went through how one all-in-one business tool handles email, calendar and pipeline work, and where it doesn't fit, in our Clozure pricing review.

Disclosure: some links are affiliate links; ShopperCove may earn a commission at no extra cost to you.

If a lot of your holiday work is sales follow-up, like quotes, corporate gift orders and meetings, a single workspace can take repetitive scheduling and reminders off your plate. Clozure's offer page lists an AI email assistant, a calendar with two-way Outlook and Google sync, CRM and pipeline tools, and meeting, RSVP and reminder automation. ShopperCove did not test it for this article. Clozure link: Open linkShow address (affiliate link)

Tools that help

• Clozure, AI business OS for revenue teams. Per its offer page, it costs $99 a month: the first charge covers a 14-day trial, then it rebills monthly until you cancel. It includes AI email, two-way calendar sync, CRM and pipeline, and meeting and reminder automation, with refunds under ClickBank's standard policy. Clozure link: Open linkShow address
• LocalTry, CRM for service businesses. Its offer page lists online booking, calendars with two-way Google Calendar sync, team chat, and automated lead follow-up and appointment messages. Operator is $99 and Scale is $199 every 30 days, with a 14-day money-back guarantee on the first purchase. LocalTry link: Open linkShow address

How this was made: facts were gathered on 8 Oct 2026 (IST) from the Reuters, Bloomberg Law, Target and Challenger pages listed below, then written up with AI help and checked line by line against those sources. Holiday shipping cutoffs had not been checked for this article; confirm them with your carrier.

Sources

• Open ajot.comShow address
• Open news.bloomberglaw.comShow address
• Open corporate.target.comShow address
• Open challengergray.comShow address
• Open clozure.netShow address
• Open localtry.comShow address

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