FedEx to Hire 55,000 to Handle Online-Fueled Holiday Shipping
FedEx Corp. will hire about 55,000 temporary workers to grapple with an expected 12% increase in shipping this holiday season, bolstered by an extra day of shopping and continued growth of online purchases.
The number of planned seasonal workers is about 10% more than last year, spokesman Tim Miller said. The company anticipates handling a record 317 million packages from the day after Thanksgiving, known as Black Friday, through Christmas Eve.
Volume spikes are expected on three Mondays — the one after Thanksgiving, known as Cyber Monday, and the first two in December.
FedEx, operator of the largest cargo airline, and UPS Inc. plan throughout the year to handle the increase in shipments during the holidays. Forecasting has become more difficult because of the growth of online orders sometimes made just before Christmas.
A jump in last-minute online shopping and severe winter weather snarled some shipments at FedEx and UPS during the 2013 holidays.
FedEx will expand sorting operations in its ground delivery network to seven days a week during the peak shipping season and will extend work at its FedEx Express airline hubs as needed, the company said in the Oct. 26 statement.
UPS will hire as many as 95,000 workers, about the same number as last year.
