FedEx will add 20,000 workers for busy holiday season

FedEx predicts it will ship 280 million packages between Thanksgiving and Christmas. To handle the surge, FedEx will hire 20,000 additional seasonal workers ? the same as last year.?

By Samantha Bomkamp,?AP Transportation writer / October 22, 2012

FedEx workers unload planes at the Memphis International hub earlier this month. FedEx will swell by 20,000 workers to keep pace with increased shipping during the holidays.

Jim Weber/The Commercial Appeal/AP/File

Enlarge

FedEx?expects to ship 280 million packages between Thanksgiving and Christmas, up 13 percent from a year ago, thanks to consumers' growing fondness for shopping online.

Skip to next paragraph

' + google_ads[0].line2 + '
' + google_ads[0].line3 + '

'; } else if (google_ads.length > 1) { ad_unit += ''; } } document.getElementById("ad_unit").innerHTML += ad_unit; google_adnum += google_ads.length; return; } var google_adnum = 0; google_ad_client = "pub-6743622525202572"; google_ad_output = 'js'; google_max_num_ads = '1'; google_feedback = "on"; google_ad_type = "text"; google_adtest = "on"; google_image_size = '230x105'; google_skip = '0'; // -->

Subscribe Today to the Monitor

Click Here for your FREE 30 DAYS of
The Christian Science Monitor
Weekly Digital Edition

FedEx?moves a bulk of its cheaper, lighter weight shipments from online and catalog retailers through its SmartPost service, a partnership with the U.S. Postal Service.

The forecast, released Monday, comes against a background of lackluster growth in the global economy.

The Memphis, Tenn., expects Dec. 10 to be its busiest day with 19 million shipments, up 10 percent from 2011.?FedEx?Corp. said holiday shipments will be driven by sales of personal electronics, apparel, luxury goods and items from large internet retailers.

Larger rival UPS, which is based in Atlanta, hasn't yet released its holiday forecast.

The National Retail Federation expects holiday sales to increase 4.1 percent. That would be the smallest increase since 2009 when sales were up just 0.3 percent. But the forecast still is higher than the 3.5 percent average over the last 10 years. Research firm eMarketer forecasts online holiday sales will grow 16.8 percent, excluding travel purchases.

FedEx?and UPS Inc. can get double the benefit when consumers choose to shop online: They ship the gift to the receiver, and they also ship the unwanted presents that are later returned.

FedEx?SmartPost has been a huge driver of growth for the company since it was formed. Average daily package volume grew 18 percent in the fiscal first quarter ended in August, more than three times the growth rate of?FedEx's?overall ground shipments in the U.S. The ground segment, which moves mostly non-priority shipments by truck, has held up despite slower growth around the globe as consumers and businesses opt for slower methods of shipping to save money.

FedEx?plans to hire 20,000 seasonal?workers?to help handle the surge ? the same as last year.

Overall,?FedEx?has warned that the global economy is stalling and expects conditions to get worse next year. It's making big cuts in the segments that have been the hardest hit, including its Express unit that moves top-priority shipments by air.

Source: http://rss.csmonitor.com/~r/feeds/csm/~3/KiZ4XWH62hc/FedEx-will-add-20-000-workers-for-busy-holiday-season

joe avezzano kanye west theraflu joey votto the masters live mega millions winner holy thursday chris stewart