FedEx will add 55,000 holiday workers
America’s e-commerce binge will drive holiday employment to a new peak at FedEx Corp.
The Memphis carrier will add 55,000 seasonal workers nationwide to handle the e-commerce surge expected over the holidays, up from 50,000 temporary hires last year.
FedEx announced the employment number Sept. 12 and described the installation of robots and other automated equipment intended to boost capacity at its shipping centers throughout the nation.
November and December mark the peak employment for the company, which moves cargo using fleets of airliners and freight trucks.
Since 2005, the FedEx Ground division has begun to operate six days per week and invested in streamlined package handling equipment. The truck division has opened 15 hubs and installed high-tech material-handling systems within the 36 million square feet of added space.
“These significant facility and automation investments have been taking place for many years, but are now largely complete,” said Raj Subramaniam, FedEx Corp. executive vice president, in a statement released by the company. “This expanded capacity and increased efficiency will create margin and profitability benefits at the same time that FedEx Ground capital investment will be decreasing.”
On a typical day outside the holidays, FedEx processes more than 14 million shipments, compared with 12 million during the holiday peak a decade ago.
Going into the holiday shipping season last year, FedEx expected to deliver about 400 million packages, a 26 percent surge over 2015 driven by e-commerce. To handle the load, FedEx hired more than 50,000 temporary employees, including about 1,000 at the FedEx Express world hub in Memphis and 1,600 at FedEx Ground facilities in the Memphis area.
FedEx Ground will again run six- and seven-day operations during the holiday season, and will continue six-day operations throughout its U.S. network year-round.
“The rise in demand for e-commerce goes beyond peak. It’s a year-round phenomenon and we are ready to meet that demand,” Subramaniam said. “Fed Ex Ground has operated six- and sevenday operations during the holidays for several years as e-commerce has grown, and thanks to strategic investments in our network, we are now well-positioned to operate six days a week in the U.S. all year to best serve the rapidly growing demand.”
FedEx, which employs about 421,000 people worldwide, including nearly 35,000 in Memphis, described in detail its efforts to streamline its packagehandling systems.
❚ Autonomous, driverless tugger technologies are enabling FedEx Ground to more effectively handle large, non-conveyable packages, which comprise more than 10 percent of FedEx Ground package volume.
❚ Robotic trailer unloading systems use a combination of robotic sensing, movement and intelligence technologies with bulk unloading techniques.
❚ Deployed trailer load analytics in hubs and automated stations to provide performance monitoring of trailer load quality and utilization.
❚ FedEx Ground yard management systems, which interact with GPS tags on each trailer and create geofences around FedEx Ground facilities, automatically notify the control center when a trailer arrives and departs.
❚ The company is increasing its use of data science and analytics to enhance real-time decision-making around network engineering, scheduling and customer needs.
❚ FedEx Express, the cargo airline, installed enhanced vision systems on aircraft, including an infrared night-vision system, to improve the pilots’ ability to land in low visibility. This reduces potential weather delays and allows FedEx Express aircraft to descend to 100 feet above the touchdown zone elevation of the runway.
❚ FedEx Express has enhanced the capabilities and economics of its global network through a multi-year fleet modernization plan. Since its inception in 2007, the program has brought in 210 more reliable and efficient aircraft.