FedEx is preparing for an exciting holiday season going by its recent job postings. The company announced plans to add 70,000 positions across key US markets, as part of its earning call for the quarter ending 31 August 2020. FedEx has been pacing up hiring with over 5,000 open positions currently, as compared to 3,500 active jobs on 01 January 2020, finds GlobalData, a leading data and analytics company.

The COVID-19 lockdown affected commercial deliveries with business closures across the world, and the impact was visible on FedEx’s hiring, which experienced a sharp dip in Q2 2020. The company also filed layoff notices for over 1,000 employees in April 2020 in California, Connecticut and Maryland.

Aurojyoti Bose, Lead Analyst at GlobalData, says: “The pandemic also created opportunities for FedEx with more people ordering online resulting in pent-up demand for goods. E-commerce is growing, and businesses are looking at logistics partners to deliver goods. With countries’ economies reopening, lower commercial airline capacities have resulted in constrained air cargo capacities.”

FedEx has a presence across 220 countries with over 600 aircrafts. The company is modernizing its fleet with the addition of freighter ATR 72-600F aircraft to deliver cargo in palletized formats. FedEx is also looking to use pilotless cargo aircraft in partnership with Reliable Robotics. It has posted key job positions, including SVP Technical Ops and Manager Global Linehaul Planning, to execute aircraft operational plans effectively.

FedEx is partnering with major players such as Dollar General, Walgreens and Walmart to deliver products to customers seven days a week across the US. It is also integrating SmartPost package deliveries into FedEx Ground operations, driving densities. The company, with its TNT acquisition, is likely to improve Intra European ground and domestic market logistics.

Hiring activity has increased since Q3 2020 and continues to surge. The company posted multiple positions for senior roles – General Manager, Customer Operations; Managing Director, IT & Governance; Vice President IT & Information Security – to support operations.

Bose concludes: “The company is wary of players such as Amazon – a company that continues to ramp up delivery infrastructure. FedEx did not renew Amazon’s contract for plane service in the US as it sought to gain dominance. It appears FedEx will continue to increase job postings, while making crucial acquisitions and deals.”