Maersk Announces Major Corporate Restructuring with 1,000 Job Cuts
In a significant move to address mounting financial pressures, global shipping leader Maersk has revealed plans to lay off 1,000 corporate employees. The announcement, made on Thursday, comes as the company grapples with deteriorating freight rates and industry-wide overcapacity, exacerbated by the gradual reopening of Red Sea shipping routes.
Financial Performance and Market Challenges
The Denmark-based conglomerate reported lower revenue for 2025, highlighting the severe challenges facing the shipping sector. Maersk's revenue declined to $54 billion last year, down from $55.5 billion in 2024, despite a 4.9% increase in shipping volumes that aligned with overall market growth. This paradoxical situation underscores the fundamental issue of too many vessels chasing limited demand, which has driven shipping prices downward and squeezed profitability.
Net profit plummeted more than half to $2.7 billion in 2025, a dramatic drop from $6.1 billion the previous year. The company attributed this sharp decline primarily to a significant decrease in Ocean transport earnings, which fell by nearly one-third to $6.3 billion. Operating profit (EBIT) stood at $3.5 billion for 2025, surpassing analyst expectations of $3.2 billion according to FactSet data, but still representing a substantial reduction from the $6.5 billion reported in 2024.
Strategic Cost-Cutting Measures
Maersk emphasized that these workforce reductions are part of a broader strategy to maintain strong cost discipline through organizational simplification and reduction of corporate overhead. The planned job cuts represent approximately 15% of roles within corporate functions, though they constitute less than 1% of Maersk's total global workforce of around 100,000 employees.
The company expects these measures to generate annual cost savings of $180 million. Additionally, Bloomberg reports indicate that Maersk plans to enhance operational efficiency through increased utilization of artificial intelligence applications, signaling a technological shift in its approach to logistics management.
Market Reaction and Future Outlook
Investors responded negatively to the announcement, with Maersk's shares falling 5.73% to 15,065 Danish Krone on the NASDAQ Copenhagen Exchange. The company described 2025 as a year shaped by unprecedented and persisting volatility in global trade, citing multiple disruptive factors including the continued closure of the Red Sea (now gradually reopening), renewed tariff measures, and ongoing geopolitical tensions that have amplified supply chain uncertainty.
Looking ahead to 2026, Maersk projects shipping volume growth between 2% and 4%. However, at current projected shipping rates, this expansion would likely lead to further declines in operating profit. The company has provided a wide-ranging forecast, suggesting its operating result next year could vary from a loss of $1.5 billion to a profit of $1 billion, reflecting the considerable uncertainty in global shipping markets.
AP Moller-Maersk, headquartered in Copenhagen, operates as an integrated container logistics company that connects and simplifies supply chains across more than 130 countries worldwide. The latest earnings report revealed the company's lowest net profit in five years, underscoring the severity of current market conditions and the rationale behind these substantial restructuring efforts.
