Delivery firms ready for festive season
As eased virus curbs boost business ahead of Lunar New Year, logistics firms go all out
The loosening of COVID-19 prevention and control measures has led to a spending spree in China, and logistics companies have been scrambling to shore up manpower during the upcoming Spring Festival holiday to cater to the growing amount of goods that need to be delivered.
ZTO, an express delivery company based in Shanghai, recently announced several measures such as setting up a special team and providing financial incentives to employees to work during the holiday season so as to ensure its services are not affected.
According to Fang Rongcheng, the general manager of ZTO Express’ Shanghai management center, the company alone handles more than 20 percent of package deliveries in the city.
Wang Shuo, the head of a ZTO delivery outlet in Beijing’s Tongzhou district, said he has been busy recruiting part-time workers as most of the outlet’s 26 couriers are nonlocals, and more than half of them are returning to their hometowns to spend the Lunar New Year.
According to Wang, the outlet has already seen a 20 percent year-onyear surge in the number of parcels. It is currently dispatching some 8,000 parcels every day.
More than 200 other outlets under ZTO Express in Beijing are also recruiting temporary staff.
JD Logistics, the logistics unit of Chinese e-commerce giant JD, said it will be offering its employees financial incentives that are higher than the national standard.
The company will also be providing employees living in different cities from their families with a special subsidy that allows them to be reunited for the Chinese New Year.
In addition, the company will introduce more than 700 unmanned vehicles, 600 intelligent express vehicles, as well as more than 100 indoor delivery robots to bolster its delivery capabilities across the nation.
Meanwhile, food delivery platform Ele.me has announced that it will raise 50 million yuan ($7.2 million) to recruit new food delivery riders and provide financial incentives to existing riders.
According to Wen Jian, an Ele.me delivery rider in Shanghai, his daily workload has increased from about 80 orders per day to over 100 due to the recent loosening of pandemic restrictions.
Local governments have also been doing their part to help companies handle the surge in delivery demands.
For example, the municipal government of Shanghai is offering subsidies ranging from 60 yuan to 150 yuan per person per day for delivery workers at e-commerce companies and couriers who work from Dec 25, 2022, to Jan 27, 2023.
Over in Guangdong, the provincial government has been working with authorities of other provinces to attract more people to work during the holiday period until the end of March, according to Securities Daily.
In Zhejiang province’s Hangzhou, Yiwu and Shaoxing, consumption coupons have been given to non-local workers to encourage them to spend the Chinese New Year in the city they are working in, China.org.cn reported.