Breaking Job News: Amazon & UPS Cut Jobs as Skills-First Hiring and Engagement Shift

Layoffs are back in the headlines, and they’re colliding with deeper shifts in how companies hire and how workers feel about work. In today’s episode of Cornering the Job Market, host Pete Newsome breaks down major job cuts at Amazon and UPS, alongside new data on skills-first hiring and employee engagement.He starts with Amazon’s confirmation of roughly 16,000 corporate job cuts, completing a broader plan totaling nearly 30,000 corporate reductions since October, the largest in company history, as leadership pushes to reduce layers, increase ownership, and accelerate automation and AI. Pete explains which parts of the business are affected, why Amazon is doubling down on AI despite growing skepticism, and what these moves signal for corporate roles more broadly.Next, Pete looks at UPS’s plan to eliminate up to 30,000 positions and close dozens of facilities as it deliberately scales back lower-margin Amazon delivery volume. Unlike Amazon, UPS is emphasizing attrition and buyouts over direct layoffs, highlighting how strategy, unionization, and profitability shape workforce decisions differently, even during cuts.The episode then shifts to hiring trends from Indeed Hiring Lab, which show that college degrees still matter more than many expect, though requirements vary sharply by geography. Pete unpacks what “skills-first hiring” actually looks like in practice and why degree requirements may be quietly creeping back up.Finally, he closes with new findings from Gallup showing declining employee engagement since 2020, with the steepest drops among Gen Z and younger millennials. Pete shares his perspective on how shifting expectations, remote work norms, and a tighter job market are reshaping the employee-employer relationship.So here’s the question: Do these layoffs and engagement trends feel like a temporary reset, or a sign the job market is fundamentally changing for the next generation of workers?Articles:1. Amazon Axes 16,000 Jobs: https://www.reuters.com/legal/litigation/amazon-cuts-16000-jobs-globally-broader-restructuring-2026-01-28/2. UPS to Eliminate 30,000 More Jobs: https://www.reuters.com/business/retail-consumer/ups-forecasts-higher-2026-revenue-2026-01-27/3. U.S. Employee Engagement Declines From 2020 Peak: https://www.gallup.com/workplace/701486/employee-engagement-declines-2020-peak.aspx4. Where College Degrees Still Matter in a “Skills-First” Market: https://www.hiringlab.org/2026/01/28/where-do-college-degrees-still-matter-in-a-skills-first-job-market/Don’t miss out! Subscribe for weekly updates on the latest job news. 🧠 WANT TO LEARN MORE? Be sure to subscribe and check out 4 Corner Resources at https://www.4cornerresources.com/👋 FOLLOW PETE NEWSOME ONLINE:LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/petenewsome/Blog Articles: https://www.4cornerresources.com/blog/