UPS to hire 2,850 seasonal workers on LI for holidays

UPS said Wednesday it will add about 95,000 seasonal workers — including 2,850 on Long Island — to meet the demand from increased online shopping. Many of the full-time and part-time jobs will be package handlers and drivers.

That’s close to last year’s pace, when United Parcel Service Inc. estimated it would hire between 90,000 and 95,000 seasonal workers, and when it also hired around 2,850 on Long Island, a spokesman said.

Delivery rival FedEx Corp. has not yet announced its plans.

Toys R Us also said Wednesday it has begun taking applications for part-time seasonal jobs in stores and distribution centers.

Earlier this week, Target Corp. said it would hire more than 70,000 seasonal store workers — about the same as last year as well. Target didn’t initially have an estimate for hiring on Long Island.

While holiday hiring has been flat to down in stores, it is rising for transportation and warehousing services — part of the trend toward more online shopping, according to workplace consultant Challenger, Gray & Christmas. Target, for example, also said it would add 7,500 people in fulfillment and distribution centers.

Challenger expects overall holiday hiring by retailers to be unchanged from last year. In 2015, retailers added about 738,800 seasonal jobs, down 1.4 percent from the year before, according to government figures.

SEE PHOTOSAverage weekly wages: $1,535 in Texas, $1,349 in Suffolk

Many applicants view seasonal jobs as a way to earn extra money for the holidays. UPS tries to make the jobs more enticing by noting that about one-third of seasonal hires eventually land year-round jobs at the company. CEO David Abney started as a part-time package loader while in college.

Privately held Toys R Us, based in Wayne, New Jersey, said that 15 percent to 20 percent of its seasonal workers join the company permanently.

With Newsday Staff