FedEx to hire 3,800 seasonal jobs in Memphis
For Cheryl Ford, working at FedEx is a family affair. Both her parents worked there until they retired. Her brother, her daughter and daughter-in-law and her niece and nephew are all current employees.
After four years as a package handler, Ford was promoted to ramp agent in September. Now she helps to load and unload planes, she moves freight cars full of packages, and she makes sure the planes and trucks moving the 4 million packages a day run on time.
And she’s on a tight schedule. The smaller planes take 38 minutes to unload, and the largest ones take 1 hour and 7 minutes, she said.
Soon thousands more people will join her at the FedEx Express World Hub in Memphis. FedEx is hiring 3,800 seasonal employees in Memphis to help get holiday packages shipped this holiday season. Another 4,300 employees will be hired in Nashville. Nationwide, FedEx is creating about 55,000 holiday jobs.
Ford has some advice for anyone considering putting in an application: “Do it.”
“You think you will come for the holidays but nine times out of 10, you’re going to stay,” she said. “You have good benefits. You have good people to work for. You’re going to want to stay.”
And according to Shannon Brown, senior vice presi-
dent and chief diversity officer at FedEx Express, there is opportunity for the seasonal workers who do well to gain permanent positions.
“With the growth of e-commerce in the marketplace and online deliveries, more of those employees could stay if they’d like to,” he said. “It’s a significant opportunity for them to continue to work in this organization ... We just need you to have some energy, be enthusiastic and come out here ready to work for a great company and help deliver joy for the holiday season.”
Brown said the open positions are mostly entry level package handling jobs that pay $13 per hour.
Notably, Amazon recently announced it was raising its minimum wage to $15 per hour, but Brown said the rest of the benefits package at FedEx outweighs the difference in pay.
FedEx employees get access to healthcare benefits that include medical, vision and dental coverage as well as a 401(k) match and tuition reimbursement for those seeking a bachelor’s degree.
Brown, who started out as a package handler 40 years ago and worked his way up to his senior position, also said FedEx believes in promoting from within, so these entry-level positions are just starting points for people who plan to build a career at FedEx.
Mike Grant, who works on the quality load team and helps to train new hires, said the people who do the best in the package handling position are physically fit and able to lift packages that weigh up to 75 pounds, day in and day out.
“There is a lot of hard work,” said Ford. He said he is glad to see the influx of people each holiday season. “There’s always more packages than there are people.”
Brown said the hiring wave is a sign of a good economy and growing online shopping habits.
“You all are going out and shopping online,” he said.
“Somebody has to deliver those packages. E-commerce is growing every year. You need more packages, I need more people.”