FedEx fights labor shortage as holiday season approaches
FedEx fights labor shortage as holiday season approaches
In its quarterly earnings report this week, FedEx cut its financial outlook for the year in part due to a labor shortage that is raising costs and creating bottlenecks.
With the all-important holiday season approaching, higher wages and signing bonuses have become the norm in the shipping industry, said AnnElizabeth Konkel with job site Indeed.
“There’s a palpable sense of urgency this year compared to last year,” she said.
But still not from job-seekers, said Andrew Challenger of staffing firm Challenger, Gray and Christmas.
“We’re seeing employers running up against a wall, there was an expectation, I think, that the labor shortage would have abated by now,” he said.
Fedex wants to hire 90,000, UPS wants 100,000 and Amazon 125,000 more workers for the holidays.
“I don’t know where all those people are gonna come from,” Challenger said.
Keith Myers, a consultant with Shipware, expects companies will significantly cap the deliveries they accept. The excess will go to the postal service, likely with hefty delays.
“It’s like partly a joke and partly not that Christmas shopping should start – now,” he said.
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