Radial seeks seasonal workers
Fulfillment centers gear up for expected rush of online orders
It’s about that time, when the massive fulfillment centers that dot the Lehigh Valley’s landscape scale up for an expected holiday rush of online orders.
Among them: Radial on Tuesday announced plans to hire more than 1,000 seasonal workers at its 475,800-square-foot warehouse in Forks Township. Radial, which handles e-commerce fulfillment for clients, said the seasonal workers will pick, sort, pack and ship online orders.
The company, which typically employs about 250 year-round workers in Forks, said it plans to offer “significant opportunities” to convert the seasonal positions into full-time roles. To help fill the seasonal roles, staffing giant Adecco will host a job fair 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Oct. 22 at the Radial fulfillment center at 4200 E. Braden Blvd.
Radial said the jobs offer “competitive hourly wages and opportunities for overtime.” Online job postings for the Forks warehouse indicate starting hourly pay rates of $13-$13.65. The company said it is accepting candidates from all backgrounds, including those who worked in industries hit hard
by the pandemic such as retail, restaurants and hospitality.
The hiring binge comes while the Lehigh Valley’s unemployment rate mirrors the state figure, but trails nationally. The region’s jobless rate in August, the most recent month available, was 10.3%, a figure that has steadily dropped since peaking at a nearly 40-year high of 16.7% in April.
Based on a four-week average, nearly 28,000 people in the region continue to receive unemployment compensation benefits, according to Nancy Dischinat, executive director of Workforce Board Lehigh Valley. That’s down from a high of almost 53,500 in May.
Transportation and warehousing has been among the Lehigh Valley’s most steady sectors during a pandemic that has only accelerated online ordering. In addition to Radial, Dischinat said women’s clothing fulfillment center Lulus is hiring seasonal pickers, packers and receivers in Palmer Township, while UPSand Geodis are hiring seasonal package handlers.
Many also are scouring for permanent workers, she said. For example, FedEx Ground needs 500 part- and full-time package handlers in Breinigsville, while Tesla is looking for 40 material handlers for a parts distribution center in the area.
The broad occupation of material mover is the most in-demand job out of the more than 6,100 postings in the Lehigh Valley, said Dischinat, citing data from the state’s Center for Workforce Information & Analysis. After material movers, registered nurses, retail salespeople, truck drivers and retail supervisors are among the most in-demand professions.
Manywarehouses, which were deemed life-sustaining early in the pandemic and allowed to keep operating, had coronavirus cases pop up this year, highlighting the difficulty of keeping workers apart in operations built for efficiency, not social distancing.
Radial, for its part, said it implemented several processes across its more than 20 fulfillment centers in response to the pandemic. Those measures include automated temperature thermal screenings, mask
requirements, adjustments to work layouts to enable and enforce social distancing and heightened sanitation measures.
“When demand increases, our people work together to rise to the challenge,” said Eric Wohl, Radial’s chief human resources officer and senior vice president. “Our people-first workplace has been tested since COVID19 hit, and I am deeply proud of how we’ve evolved our working environment to keep our strong community values intact while deepening safety measures.”