It’s not just Amazon, with its ubiquitous prime trucks, that is planning to hire hundreds of people for the holiday shopping season.
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.
They, as well as Amazon, anticipate another surge in delivery services, as more people are ordering online, another corollary of the coronavirus pandemic.
Load Error
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].
———
©2020 The Morning Call (Allentown, Pa.)
Visit The Morning Call (Allentown, Pa.) at www.mcall.com
Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
More Stories
Britain’s Greggs to cut jobs as COVID-19 dents demand
Citigroup’s new stock-trading chief is cutting jobs in effort to revive the flagging business
Flood of Tires Sowed the Seeds for Continental Cuts