Yodel hiring 5,000 seasonal staff to boost peak season performance
UK parcel carrier Yodel is hiring 5,000 new part-time and full-time staff to cope with expectations it will handle one million parcels a day in the run-up to Christmas this year. The company said today that the jobs will include 750 warehouse staff for its parcel sorting centres, 760 in-house drivers and 470 self-employed drivers providing their own vehicles.
The planned hiring figure also includes 2,830 self-employed couriers to deliver parcels within their local areas.
Away from the front line of delivery, Yodel will also be hiring 135 customer service and admin staff, 40 service delivery managers, three operations managers and three service centre managers, it said.
Yodel said many of the new jobs will become permanent because of the annual growth in its parcel volumes.
“Top service”
Dick Stead, executive chairman of Yodel, said his firm began its recruitment for its seasonal work force last month to ensure new staff are fully trained and prepared.
“Many of the vacancies are flexible and perfect for those who want to fit work around families, or who have retired but want to remain active and earn some extra cash,” he said.
“Others are full-time and we expect many people to stay on beyond December. Whatever the job, we’re giving everyone working for us the tools they need to deliver a top service.”
Hatfield-based Yodel, which is owned by the Barclay Brothers, is the company formed by the merger of the Home Delivery Network and the domestic B2B and B2C businesses of DHL UK in 2010.
The firm delivers 145m parcels a year through a network of more than 60 sites across the UK, including three central sorting hubs and 50 service centres. It co-owns the CollectPlus network of parcel shops.
The company has been battling its way back towards profitability after struggling to integrate its two constituent delivery networks, completing its restructuring in 2012. It currently expects to be back in the black this financial year.
Yodel said back in August that its parcel volume and revenue increased 11% an 12% respectively in 2013 despite the “crowded and ultra-competitive” UK parcel market.
