Hiring spiked last month for U.S. logistics as the consumer economy remains strong, reports the Wall Street Journal. Delivery and warehousing companies added 20,000 jobs to grapple with continuing e-commerce demand.
The growth aligns with efforts by delivery leaders like United Parcel Service Inc. and FedEx Corp. to ramp up delivery service on the weekends to handle surging e-commerce orders.
Last quarter, UPS posted a nearly 10% increase in shipments due to increased business from Amazon. At the same time, Amazon is also delivering more of its own packages through a growing network of delivery contractors driving Amazon-branded vans, which are commonly seen on the streets of Baton Rouge.
“Amazon has almost tripled within a year the number of people they have delivering for itself,” says Satish Jindel, president of ShipMatrix Inc., which analyzes package-shipping data. FedEx and regional delivery providers such as OnTrac and LSO Inc. have also bolstered its delivery staff numbers.
Hiring among warehouse and storage operators also increased last month, as companies added 5,700 positions to a sector that includes online fulfillment centers and industrial distribution facilities. In a tight labor market, warehousing growth has slowed, with payrolls increasing by 20,400 between January 2019 and January 2020 after adding 115,000 jobs in the previous 12-month period. Read the full story.
