The United States Postal Service (USPS) is looking to fill 40,000 job openings to meet its high delivery demands for the 2021 holiday season.
USPS is reaching its peak time of the year for mail and package deliveries. Tens of thousands of seasonal positions open every year to make sure all the mail gets delivered on time.
In 2020, USPS hired more than 50,000 seasonal workers and still suffered from widespread delays. As COVID-19 fueled a surge in online shopping, mail carriers such as United Parcel Service (UPS) and USPS reported package backlogs and had to cut off new delivery orders for some retailers just weeks before Christmas 2020.
To avoid unnecessary delays, USPS encouraged its customers to send holiday gifts as soon as possible, according to a statement released by USPS last holiday season.
This year, USPS is anticipating another surge in mail and package volumes and will be hosting 58 job fairs in select cities across the country, with multiple locations in Los Angeles, beginning on Sept. 14.
“The Postal Service offers many opportunities for seasonal employment. For many, a seasonal role can be the start of an exciting career with the Postal Service.”
Seasonal workers often earn competitive pay packages with flexible work hours. In addition, USPS also provides on-the-job training and opportunities for advancement to their workers.
The eligible applicants must be U.S. Citizens or permanent residents and must be at least 18 years old, or 16 with a high school diploma.
In addition to hiring more seasonal employees, USPS also plans to expand millions of square feet of package sortation facilities and install more advanced processing equipment.
Piled on top of the employee shortages and facility capacity challenges, USPS also has to deal with the Atlantic hurricane season that runs from June 1 to Nov. 30. Hurricane Ida was predicted to be the strongest storm of the season, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration website.
