Swiss Logistics Group Kuehne+Nagel to Cut Up to 1,500 Jobs, following a sharp slump in its recent quarterly earnings.
The global logistics landscape is facing significant upheavalÂ
The major logistics firm announces cost-cutting program targeting hundreds of millions in savings as it grapples with a market defined by overcapacity and margin pressure, a situation that powerfully reflects global economic pressures on the logistics sector.
Headline Points
 • Significant Job Reductions Planned: Kuehne+Nagel plans to eliminate between 1,000 and 1,500 full-time equivalent (FTE) positions globally as part of a major cost-cutting drive.
 • Profit Slump Trigger: The announcement follows a difficult third quarter (Q3) of 2025, where the group’s operating profit (EBIT) plummeted by 37% year-on-year to CHF 285 million, missing analyst expectations.
 • Cost-Cutting Target: The company is launching a group-wide cost-reduction program aimed at achieving annualized savings of more than CHF 200 million (Swiss Francs).
 • Global Economic Pressures: The firm explicitly cited the challenging market environment, characterised by overcapacity and margin pressure in the freight logistics market, exacerbated by slowing global trade volumes, particularly to the U.S. due to ongoing trade tensions.
 • Strategic Focus: The planned job cuts are part of a broader push to improve efficiency through process optimisation, greater use of automation, and reliance on shared service centres.
Profit Plunge Forces Structural Change
Headquartered in Schindellegi, Switzerland, Kuehne+Nagel, one of the world’s largest freight forwarders, revealed that its latest financial performance had been hit hard by a “difficult external environment.”
The third quarter saw group turnover fall by 7% to CHF 6.04 billion, driven by falling freight rates and a contraction in transport volumes in key markets.
CEO Stefan Paul stated that the major logistics firm announces cost-cutting program as a necessary action to protect its cost base and sustainably improve efficiency.
“The difficult external factors are forcing us to increase our efficiency and performance culture sustainably and in the long term,” Mr. Paul stated.
The job reductions—which represent a fraction of the company’s over 85,000 global workforce but mark a significant corporate pivot—are expected to contribute at least CHF 110 million to the overall CHF 200 million savings target.
The remaining savings will come from optimising facilities and reducing variable costs. The full impact of these savings is anticipated to be realised by the end of 2026.
The Wider Sector’s Challenges
The drastic measure by Kuehne+Nagel is a prominent indicator of the global economic pressures on the logistics sector. After the high-margin peak during the post-pandemic supply chain crisis, the industry is now struggling with a swift return to ‘normal’ market conditions—and then some.
Overcapacity in both the sea and air freight markets is pushing freight rates down, squeezing the profit margins of logistics service providers.
Specifically, the company pointed to sharply reduced transport volumes to the United States as a key factor. This drop is widely attributed to the ripple effects of international trade tensions, which have created significant uncertainty and softened global demand for goods movement.
This outlook has forced the company to significantly lower its full-year earnings forecast for the second time this year.
The company now expects a recurring operating profit (EBIT) of over CHF 1.3 billion for the full year 2025, a considerable reduction from its previous forecast range of CHF 1.45 billion to CHF 1.65 billion.
While the significant job reductions planned will incur non-recurring restructuring costs in the coming quarters, the move signals management’s commitment to weathering the current economic storm by consolidating operations and investing in automation for long-term productivity gains. The move underscores a fundamental shift in the logistics industry: the post-pandemic boom is over, and major players must now adapt to a new era of heightened competition and economic volatility.
