UPS (NYSE: UPS) announced today that it expects to sign-up atleast 50,000 seasonal employees this Friday, October 30, in itsannual one-day ‘UPS Brown Friday’ hiring blitz at company locationsacross the country.
Nearly a month before Black Friday and Cyber Monday officiallykick off the holiday shopping season, UPS Brown Friday bringsnearly 250 virtual and in-person hiring fairs. The company willhire thousands of candidates on the spot – part of its broadereffort, announced last month, to hire more than 100,000 seasonalworkers to support its annual holiday shipping rush.
“UPS Brown Friday has become an annual tradition,” said ChiefHuman Resources Officer Charlene Thomas. “For tens of thousands ofAmericans, it’s an opportunity to land one of the country’s bestseasonal jobs, with the potential to turn into a career. Many ofthose who attend one of our job fairs this Friday will be hired byMonday, and many of those hired will be offered permanent jobs whenthe holidays are over.”
Most of this year’s hiring events will be virtual. Applicantswill check into a virtual lobby, then do online interviews with UPSHuman Resources representatives.
Some company locations will hold in-person events, whereallowed by local health authorities. Those events will strictlyadhere to safety restrictions including requiring masks and socialdistancing, with applicants waiting outside the building beforebeing called in for an interview. All in-person hiring events willinclude a virtual option.
Those who are unable to attend a hiring fair can still applyeasily online, at Videos featuring employees describing their workexperience at UPS are also available at that UPS jobs website.
The full- and part-time seasonal positions – primarily packagehandlers, drivers, and driver-helpers – have long been an entrypoint for permanent employment at UPS. Over the last three years,about 35% of people hired by UPS for seasonal package handler jobswere later hired in a permanent position when the holidays wereover, and about 123,000 UPS employees – nearly a third of thecompany’s U.S. workforce – started in seasonal positions.
Through the company’s Earn and Learn program, eligibleseasonal employees who are students can earn up to $1,300 towardscollege expenses, in addition to their hourly pay, for three monthsof continuous employment. UPS has invested nearly $670 million intuition assistance – nearly $30 million a year since the programwas established in 1997 – helping over 300,000 employees pay fortheir college education.