United Parcel Service said Wednesday it plans to hire more than 100,000 extra workers to help handle an increase in packages during the holiday season.
UPS said Wednesday that it expects a record peak season. Online shopping has been growing for years, and the pandemic has given it an extra boost as some shoppers avoid going to stores.
The seasonal hiring would be about the same that UPS announced before Christmas in 2018 and 2019. Holiday-season volumes usually start rising in October and remain high into January.
The Atlanta-based company said it will have full- and part-time seasonal jobs, mostly package handlers, drivers and driver helpers. UPS touts the seasonal jobs as ones that can lead to year-round employment, saying over the last three years, about 35 percent of people for seasonal package-handling jobs wound up in permanent positions.
FedEx said last week it plans to hire up to 70,000 seasonal workers, a big jump from 55,000 last year.
Both delivery giants have seen a boom in residential deliveries since lockdowns kept consumers out of stores, and fear of contracting the virus has limited their shopping trips. That has already led to more hiring.