Dive Brief:
- UPS will hire 100,000 seasonal employees this year to handle increased package volumes during the holiday season. In each of the past three years, the company has hired 95,000 seasonal workers, Dan McMackin, PR manager for UPS, told Supply Chain Dive by email.
- About 90% of the employees will be package handles and driver helpers, McMackin said. The remaining 10% of hires will be delivery drivers and truck drivers.
- Seasonal employees will work at permanent package hubs as well as temporary facilities UPS builds "just for the seasonal shipping rush," the company said in a news release.
Dive Insight:
As summer nears its end and attention turns to year-end shopping season, several retailers and logistics companies are announcing their intention to hire thousands of seasonal workers.
Target said it will hire 120,000 workers and Macy's will hire 80,000, with more than 23,000 employed at online fulfillment centers. FedEx will bring on 55,000 employees, in addition to extending hours for some existing staff.
While UPS hires thousands of seasonal workers each year, it's boosting hiring by more than 5% for this holiday season.
"We have added several new facilities and expanded others to handle the increased e-commerce volume, so we are planning to hire more seasonal employees this year," McMackin said. "I think our people — both seasonal and permanent — are critical to the running of our network."
In addition to investing in human capital, UPS is focusing on advanced technology that will quickly sort millions of packages at highly automated facilities.
The carrier is also adding Saturday deliveries to several markets. "By this peak, our Saturday operations will be at full deployment, and that will further help us smooth out the volume throughout the peak period creating additional capabilities," Juan Perez, chief information and engineering officer at UPS, said on a recent call with investors.
