- UPS said it expected to hire about 95,000 employees for the holiday season.
- The announcement marks the company’s fourth straight year of seasonal hiring during the holidays.
- The seasonal employees would start in November and work through January, UPS said.
- FedEx is planning to bring on more than 50,000 seasonal workers,
- FedEx to offer extra hours to some current staffers, in the run-up to the holidays.
Package delivery company United Parcel Service said it expected to hire about 95,000 seasonal employees for its crucial peak holiday season for the fourth straight year.
These employees would support the expected increase in package volume that will begin in November and continue through January, UPS said on Wednesday.
Peak season begins on Black Friday, the day after the Thanksgiving holiday in November, and runs through to early January when there is a large wave of returns.
UPS announced that its new hires would drive, handle packages and take on other tasks in the weeks leading up to and immediately following the holidays.
“If you are a student, a working mom or just looking to make extra money for the holidays, we have a job for you,” UPS CEO David Abney said in a statement.
Couriers put their packages through the gauntlet before they ship your stuff. Newslook
The workforce boosts come at a time when the number of purchases made online is soaring, increasing the amount of packages shipping companies need to organize and ferry.
UPS learned a hard lesson in in 2013 when it hired 55,000 seasonal employees and then struggled to meet the deluge of packages flowing from online orders. Since then, its seasonal workforce has nearly doubled, hovering at around 95,000.
“The reason our hiring has stayed level is that we have been very busy expanding existing facilities, building new ones and upgrading our network with high-speed sortation equipment,” says UPS spokesman Dan McMackin. He added that the company is also using technology to streamline delivery routes and is getting more accurate projections from its biggest customers about the load it will need to handle over the holidays.
UPS won’t give a forecast until next month about how many packages it is expecting, “but our peak volume has been going up steadily year over year for that period from Thanksgiving through January,” says McMackin. He adds that the rush continues well beyond Christmas Eve as people return sweaters that are too small or redeem gift cards into the new year.
Both UPS and FedEx emphasized that many of their seasonal holiday jobs turn into full-time positions.
Of its roughly 50,000 temporary slots last year, “many . . .. became full-time job opportunities as demand for our service grew and our networks expanded,” says FedEx spokesman Jonathan Lyons.
Retailers have also been unveiling their hiring plans for what is typically the busiest shopping season of the year.
Target has said that it expects to hire roughly 100,000 workers. Macy’s plans to give seasonal jobs to 80,000, and Toys R Us, which sought bankruptcy protection at the start of this week, is also planning to bring on a seasonal staff.
Walmart, meanwhile, says that rather than hiring temporary employees from the outside, it will instead offer extra hours during the holidays to its current employees.
With reports from Reuters and USA Today
