DHL Express expands hiring as peak season volumes continue through summer

Dive Brief:

DHL Express is hiring for 400 new full- and part-time jobs to handle "double-digit" year-over-year increases in parcel volume across the U.S. amid the coronavirus pandemic, according to a company announcement Wednesday. The roles include "direct management, clearance and gateway operations, pick-up and delivery service, and ramp and sorting operations" at DHL facilities nationwide.
Roughly 230 of these positions will be permanent and split between Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International (DHL Express Americas Hub), Miami International and O'Hare International airports, according to the release. DHL Express is seeing 30% and 25% year-over-year increases in parcel volumes at Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky and O'Hare, respectively, that are expected to continue throughout 2020.
Miami International expects parcel volume to increase an additional 22% due to the launch of a Hong Kong – Los Angeles – Miami flight in May. The carrier said the flight will run inbound five times per week, adding 45 more tons of capacity per trip.

Dive Insight:

DHL reported it was handling peak season-level volumes in April, largely driven by increasing e-commerce orders of supplements and pharmaceuticals, apparel, office supplies, food and other items as consumers complied with stay-at-home orders across the country.

At the time, the carrier was experiencing a domestic volume increase of 36% and a cross-border increase of 28%, compared to February averages.

"Our challenge this year is that we’re seeing peak volumes in the summer, which is a nontraditional time," Greg Hewitt, CEO of DHL Express U.S., said in a statement.

Through May and June, DHL's airfreight arm confirmed in the release that "Inbound shipment volume is booming, particularly from Asia." In April, DHL eCommerce Solutions Americas CEO Lee Spratt said volume was picking up in China specifically as factories came back online.

The company doesn't predict volume increases will normalize anytime soon. As e-commerce orders have remained a volume-driver throughout 2020, the carrier said it expects to see another volume bump as more states open up and businesses begin to restock their shelves.

DHL isn't the only company ramping up logistics hiring due to the pandemic. In March Amazon opened up 100,000 roles and added an additional 75,000 in April to handle demand surges and corresponding parcel volume spikes. It has since said 70% of those positions will be made permanent as experts anticipate elevated e-commerce levels to be the "new normal" moving forward.