With the likes of Black Friday and Christmas just around the corner retailers and delivery specialists alike are beginning the process of beefing up resources ahead of peak.
UPS UK, which employs more than 8,000 employees in the UK already, is to add a further 1,300 seasonal employees to its ranks.
Meanwhile Royal Mail is to add 19,000 seasonal roles across the UK. The numbers will see 1,850 extra temporary staff for Parcelforce Worldwide, including 830 drivers.
Both companies will offer the positions from November through to January of next year to help with the peak surge and the anticipated increased volume.
For UPS it comes after work undertaken during 2016 to help its customers better understand their peak shipping needs and plan accordingly.
As well as delivering to door UPS also allows consumers the chance to have shipments sent to convenience stores, petrol stations and newsagents that make up its Access Point network. UPS also enables consumers to track packages using its My Choice service, a free pre-delivery alert service that allows them to reschedule or redirect packages if required. 28 million customers currently use the My Choice service.
Last year UPS delivered 612 million packages globally, including an absolute peak of 36 million packages on 21 December – twice the normal daily average. In the UK it operates 60 facilities with a delivery fleet of more than 3,400 vehicles across the UK.
UPS says that a number of its senior staff began as part-timers for the delivery company. These include UPS’ own CEO David Abney. Potential candidates for should apply through UPSjobs.com or www.royalmailgroup.com/xmasjobs.
Image credits:
UPS press office
