LoginIn preparation for the 2011 holiday season, United Parcel Service Inc. has announced it plans to hire 55,000 additional workers, marking a 10 percent increase in workers hired in the 2010 season. Bloomberg reports that UPS estimates more than 120 million packages will be shipped just one week before Christmas.
The new hires indicate a broad growth trend, bucking fears of a recovery slowdown – a welcome gift to America.
"Early indications point to a solid holiday shopping and shipping season," UPS Chief Marketing Officer Alan Gershenhorn said in the statement.
Rival package-delivery company FedEx plans to one-up the number of new UPS hires by adding 20,000 workers to meet the demand from the season, an 18 percent increase from last year's new season hires, according to Bloomberg. The company's U.S. shipments between Thanksgiving and Christmas area expected to increase 12 percent from last year to more than 260 million.
"Retail inventory such as apparel, personal consumer electronics and luxury goods as well as books and other items from large Internet retailers will account for a large portion of FedEx holiday volumes," a company release read.