Hundreds of Lehigh Valley jobs available from FedEx Ground, UPS

It’s not just Amazon, with its ubiquitous prime trucks, that is planning to hire hundreds of people for the holiday shopping season.

© JOSEPH RESSLER / THE MORNING CALL/The Morning Call/TNS
The groundbreaking ceremony for FedEx Ground’s $335 million package-sorting plant plant is shown in this file photo. Both FedEx and UPS, which have major operations in the Lehigh Valley, have joined Amazon in announcing they are seeking hundreds of people for seasonal jobs.

FedEx Ground and UPS, which also have major package-sorting operations in the Lehigh Valley and equally recognizable delivery trucks, have both put out Help Wanted signs.

UPS says it plans to hire more than 100,000 holiday workers, including 800 for its distribution facility in Palmer Township. Meanwhile FedEx, which also operates a large delivery center in Allen Township, plans to recruit 700 people.

© Jon Harris/THE MORNING CALL/The Morning Call/TNS
A July 2018 photo that shows the UPS facility at 1620 Van Buren Road in 33 Logistics Park in Palmer Township. The facility measures 1,015,740 square feet.

They, as well as Amazon, anticipate another surge in delivery services, as more people are ordering online, another corollary of the coronavirus pandemic.

FedEx, which expects to add more than 70,000 seasonal positions throughout its network, put out the call last week for package handlers.

UPS said it is seeking package handlers, driver-helpers, and package car and tractor-trailer drivers, with pay ranging from $14 to $21 an hour

Both companies said many of the seasonal positions can lead to full-time opportunities. For more information, go to:

FedEx, groundwarehousejobs.fedex.com

UPS, jobs-ups.com

Last week, Amazon said it would hire 600 people to handle anticipated demand at its fulfillment centers in Upper Macungie and Palmer townships. The hiring announcements by such major corporations could help boost a slowly recovering job market.

The Valley’s unemployment rate for July stood at 13.9%, down nearly 3 percentage points from April’s record high of 16.7%. But the area, like many others, has seen large declines in year-over-year employment within leisure and hospitality and professional and business services.

By comparison, the region’s transportation-and-warehousing sector has been steady, with 29,900 jobs in July, almost unchanged from 30,000 a year earlier, according to state data.

And other positive signs are emerging in the region’s overall hiring health. That includes a decline in Pennsylvania’s August unemployment rate (10.3%) as well as the nation’s (8.4%).

August’s Lehigh Valley jobless estimate is due out Sept. 29.

Morning Call reporter Anthony Salamone can be reached at 610-820-6694 or [email protected].

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