Logistics and delivery companies ramp up temporary staffing for the holiday rush.

Transportation and logistics companies worldwide are already gearing up for their most hectic delivery season ever. Adobe Analytics predicts a record $240.8 billion in online holiday spending this year, driving demand for logistics and delivery workers to record levels around the globe. Amazon expects to hire 250,000 seasonal workers in the US and another 15,000 in the UK.

To handle the UK’s holiday rush, Royal Mail announced plans to recruit 16,000 temps before Christmas 2024, and Yodel announced it is hiring for over 3,000 seasonal roles, including 2,500 couriers and 600 warehouse roles.

Despite projections that US retailers will hire fewer temporary workers this year than last, they still plan to add more than 520,000 seasonal workers, followed closely by major package delivery and logistics companies.

“Ultimately, while the hiring landscape may be less aggressive than in recent years, it remains an essential part of the holiday economy,” said Andrew Challenger, labor expert and senior vice president of hiring consultant Challenger, Gray & Christmas, Inc. “This indicates that employers remain optimistic about the season, though some uncertainty looms around potential fluctuations in consumer spending and the economy.”

Seasonal warehouse and distribution center workers needed

There have been no reports of temporary hiring at Santa’s North Pole workshop and distribution center, but others are staffing up quickly for the holidays. In its Global Employment Outlook Survey for Q4 2024, global staffing supplier Manpower noted that transportation and logistics assignments are among the roles in greatest demand, with 76% of employers reporting difficulty finding the skilled talent they need.

Logistics People, the UK’s largest logistics recruitment provider, is currently looking for drivers, warehouse workers, forklift drivers, transport and administrative staff, security officers, and other positions throughout the UK in advance of the holiday rush.

Insider Intelligence, a US-based market research firm, reports that retail sales are set to accelerate as 2024 draws to a close. They estimate that ecommerce sales will grow by 9.5% year-over-year, while non-ecommerce holiday shopping growth will be 3.7%. But whether the shopping transactions are done online or in-store, whether the shipments are wholesale or retail, temporary workers in warehouses and distribution centers will pick, pack, sort, and ship the packages on their way.

To manage their high-volume, shift-based workforces, many transportation and logistics companies – and their temporary staffing agencies – use JoinedUp by Beeline, the automated temporary staffing solution that makes it easy to:

• Plan and schedule shifts
• Communicate with workers
• Match candidates with assignments
• Manage time and attendance
• Produce reports that provide data-driven insight into performance and spend

With JoinedUp, logistics companies and their staffing suppliers can easily manage complex shift arrangements, including split shifts, night shifts, and weekend shifts, in accordance with UK overtime laws and Agency Workers Regulations (AWR).

Understand the problem

Scheduling and managing shift-based workers can be stressful any time of year. Managing multiple shifts on a 24-hour-a-day, 7-day-a-week schedule through the holidays can be mind-numbingly complex. To do it manually while trying to optimize operational productivity is practically impossible.

Consider a solution

One powerful way to reduce the chaos of shift-based staffing – and lower everyone’s stress levels – is for staffing suppliers and logistics operations to get on the same staffing automation solution. A proper fit-for-purpose solution will provide:

• Streamlined scheduling with shared calendar views, real-time rosters, and instant visibility into shift schedules
• Intelligent rate management engine that accommodates various rate structures and automates nuances specific to shift work, country by country
• Simplified shift fulfillment that addresses split shifts, night shifts, weekend shifts, minimum guaranteed hour shifts, sick leave and holiday policies, and skill types
• Support for recurring requisitions (e.g., cyclical, short-term, and long-term assignments)
• Mass assignment management, including requests, work orders, timecards, rate adjustments, and notifications
• Compliance with company policies, laws, and regulations
• Accurate worker payments – always the right thing, but essential during the holidays. They bolster morale, aid retention, reduce credits, and get invoices right the first time. So, everyone wins.

These are a few productivity benefits provided by JoinedUp, the system Royal Mail, Evri, Manpower, Logistics People, and other companies will use this holiday season to manage their expanded logistics and delivery staffing programs. With the right staffing plans and technology, they will be well prepared to handle the anticipated increase in mail and parcels while maintaining the high service standards their customers expect. Santa will be proud.

To find out what JoinedUp’s shift-based staffing automation tools can do for your manufacturing, logistics, or delivery operations and how JoinedUp can support your business, talk to us.