UPS is gearing up for an expected record-breaking peak season with plans to hire 100,000 seasonal workers while also hiking rates and surcharges to cover higher operational costs.
The company said yesterday that it expects to hire over 100,000 seasonal employees to support the anticipated annual increase in package volume that will begin in October 2020 and continue through January 2021. Full- and part-time seasonal positions with competitive wages and attractive benefits are primarily for package handlers, drivers, driver-helpers and personal vehicle drivers.
“We’re preparing for a record peak holiday season. The COVID-19 pandemic has made our services more important than ever,” said Charlene Thomas, Chief Human Resources Officer. “We plan to hire over 100,000 people for UPS’s seasonal jobs and anticipate a large number will move into permanent roles after the holidays. At a time when millions of Americans are looking for work, these jobs are an opportunity to start a new career with UPS.”
Over the last three years, about 35% of people hired by UPS for seasonal package handler jobs were later hired in a permanent position when the holidays were over, and about 123,000 UPS employees – nearly a third of the company’s U.S. workforce – started in seasonal positions.
Price rise for SurePost deliveries
Meanwhile, UPS said in a customer service update that it plans to increase rates for all its SurePost services by $0.24 effective October 18, 2020. According to US-based publication Freightwaves, this increase matches a 24-cent rise by the US Postal Service. SurePost is UPS’ low-cost service for small light packages with final-mile delivery through the US Postal Service.
The move comes just weeks after UPS unveiled big volume-based peak season surcharges for US residential deliveries from November 15 until January 16, 2021, to generate better yields. These include substantial surcharges per package for SurePost/Ground Residential deliveries, Next Day Air Residential and other Air Residential deliveries. There are also higher charges for large and heavy shipments from October 4 to January 16.
However, UPS did not disclose any details of service enhancements or changes for peak season 2020.
Last week rival FedEx announced it is expanding Sunday deliveries by its FedEx Ground unit and home deliveries of bulky goods through FedEx Freight. The Memphis-based company plans to take on about 70,000 seasonal workers this year and has also hiked US surcharges for residential deliveries during peak season.
