"We're always looking for how we can improve efficiencies as a
whole, and in doing that we tend to need less people in the long
run," UPS global director of recruitment strategies Paul Tanguay
told Reuters. "So the flat number is not reflective of the
volumes we have coming in."
Investors will be watching Atlanta-based UPS this peak season
and will expect a repeat of last year's solid performance
following bad years in 2013 and 2014.
In 2013, the company was caught off guard by a last-minute surge
in ecommerce packages. In 2014, UPS invested heavily for a wave
of packages that failed to materialize.
Last year, the company worked closely with retailers to manage
package flows and deliver a well-received peak season
performance.
Peak season begins on Black Friday, the day after the
Thanksgiving holiday in November, and runs through to early
January when there is a large wave of returns by package after
Christmas.
FedEx Corp <FDX.N>, the main rival of UPS, has not yet announced
its seasonal hiring numbers.
Most UPS seasonal employees tend to be drivers or package
handlers. Tanguay said that over the past few years an average
of 37 percent of seasonal hires becomes full-time employees.
Many of the company's top executives began as part-time workers
at the world's largest package delivery company, including Chief
Executive David Abney, who began working for UPS while at
college in Mississippi in 1974.
(Reporting by Nick Carey; Editing by Will Dunham)
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