UPS expects to hire about 100,000 seasonal employees to support the anticipated annual increase in package volume that will begin in November and continue through Jan. 2020.
“We expect another record Peak season this year, with daily package deliveries nearly doubling compared to our average of 20 million per day,” said Jim Barber, chief operating officer of UPS. “In order to make that happen, once again we’re recruiting about 100,000 people for some of the country’s best seasonal jobs.”
In many cities across the country, a portion of the seasonal hires are needed to staff temporary facilities that UPS builds just for the seasonal shipping rush, in addition to its permanent package hubs.
The full and part-time seasonal positions – primarily package handlers, drivers and driver-helpers – have long been an entry point for permanent employment at UPS. Many senior UPS executives, including chairman and CEO David Abney and other members of the company’s senior leadership team, started their UPS careers as part-time employees.
Over the last three years, 35 percent of the people UPS hired for seasonal package handler jobs were later hired in a permanent position when the holidays were over, and nearly a third of the company’s current U.S. workforce started in seasonal positions.
Mercy Alvarado is a human resources supervisor in Ft. Worth, TX who came to UPS as a seasonal employee in 2013.
"I started my UPS career as a seasonal driver helper in part because the company's tuition reimbursement program offered an opportunity to continue my education,” Alvarado said. “Since then I've not only completed my associate's and bachelor's degrees, I've been promoted twice and am now a full-time supervisor. UPS is the place where I plan to retire someday, and I'll always be thankful for this amazing job and opportunity."
Nearly 70% want their seasonal job to turn into a full-time position, according to a recent survey conducted by TRUE Global Intelligence of Americans who hold, have held or would consider taking a seasonal job. Nearly all agreed that seasonal and temporary jobs are a good way to move into a permanent, full-time career.
Through the company’s Earn and Learn program, eligible seasonal employees who are students can earn up to $1,300 towards college expenses, in addition to their hourly pay, for three months of continuous employment and at many UPS locations, part-time employees are eligible to receive up to $25,000 in tuition assistance through the program.
Kevin Whitehill of Des Moines, IA was a college student when he started a seasonal job as a part-time package handler on his 19th birthday – Nov. 19, 1996. He worked part-time for several years and took advantage of UPS’s tuition reimbursement program to get his degree. Twenty-two years later, he’s an on-road supervisor managing tractor-trailer drivers.
“I never intended UPS to be a career,” Whitehill said. “I took a job for Christmas. As I moved along, the opportunities were just too good to pass up.”
Interested applicants should apply and can also look for news of local employment fairs at UPS locations in their area.
