FedEx to Hire 50,000 Seasonal Workers

FedEx expects to hire more than 50,000 seasonal workers for the peak holiday season.

Speaking on its first-quarter earnings call, Mike Glenn, President and CEO of FedEx Services, said the seasonal jobs include package handlers, helpers, drivers and other support positions.

“Based upon our growth expectations and network expansion, the majority of those seasonal workers will have the opportunity to continue working for us after the holiday season,” Glenn said.

Last October, FedEx announced it planned to hire 20,000 seasonal workers for the 2013 holiday season.

FedEx Chairman Fred Smith said his company will be ready for the holiday season rush, and added that “contrary to some of the popular press, we actually had an outstanding peak season last year, with the exception of a couple of weather events.”

Last Dec. 26, FedEx posted a statement on its website to say it “experienced no major service disruptions in the week before Christmas despite heavy volume.”

However, shippers such as Yankee Candle Co. said FedEx was not transparent to merchants about their capacity and abilities, and ultimately, its customers became the victim.

“There are just scores of things that are done at each of the FedEx operating companies to accommodate a smooth peak season,” Smith said. “The CEOs have reported at DSMC that they’re prepared for peak season this year and hopefully, the weather will be accommodating.”

UPS announced Tuesday it plans to hire between 90,000-95,000 temporary workers to handle the rush of deliveries around the holiday shopping season. This is a significant increase over the projected figure from 2013 and is part of the company’s all-out effort to avoid an overloaded network and upset customers due to parcel delays.

Last year, UPS initially said it was hiring 55,000, only to increase that figure to 85,000 in December as parcel volumes swelled due to massive increases in ecommerce orders.