Bloomberg: United Parcel Service Inc. may hire 55,000 holiday workers this year, a 10 percent increase from the number planned in 2010, amid a surge in seasonal shipping.
UPS expects to deliver more than 120 million packages in the week before Christmas, the world's largest package-delivery company said today in a statement.
The projected hiring and volume gains at UPS, an economic proxy because of its deliveries, indicate broader growth while countering indicators of a slowing recovery. Rival package- shipping company FedEx Corp. said last month it would hire 20,000 seasonal employees or 18 percent more than last year, to handle peak shipping.
"Early indications point to a solid holiday shopping and shipping season," UPS chief marketing officer Alan Gershenhorn said in the statement.
Increases in online shopping have helped compress the peak shipping period to the two weeks before Christmas rather than the month between the holiday and Thanksgiving, the Atlanta- based company said.
UPS expects volume of about 25 million packages, or 60 percent more than normal, on five days this year, compared with just one in 2010. The company expects each of the peak shipping days to occur within the 10 days before Christmas.
