DHL Express, the world’s leading provider of internationalexpress shipping services, is adding approximately 400 new jobs inthe United States due to a double-digit volume increase inshipments compared to last year.
“Inbound shipment volume is booming, particularly from Asia,”said Greg Hewitt, CEO for DHL Express U.S. “Our customers arerelying on us to deliver their shipments, whether it’s personalprotective equipment (PPE) or home necessities, so we must addstaff at our hubs, gateways and on the road to continue providingour customers with excellent service.”
Volumes have significantly increased in recent months due to aspike in online shopping as people stayed quarantined due toCOVID-19. Urgent shipments such as masks, gloves and other PPE alsocontributed to Holiday-season-like volumes, but these volumes havecome without the usual pre-season preparation time for thepeak.
“Our challenge this year is that we’re seeing peak volumes inthe summer, which is a nontraditional time. We normally have timeto prep for peak season,” said Hewitt.
At the DHL Express Americas Hub (Cincinnati/Northern KentuckyInternational Airport), the company is adding about 150 jobs tohandle the 30 percent year-over-year volume increase.
At the company’s gateway at the Miami International Airport,which connects to the company’s South America, Central America andCaribbean network, about 30 jobs are being added to account for ahigher volume than last year. Volume is expected to increaseanother 22 percent with the implementation of a new Hong Kong – LosAngeles – Miami flight that commenced in late May. This new flightfrom Asia, scheduled to run in-bound five times per week, will addapproximately 45 more tons of capacity per flight.
Similarly, DHL Express’ gateway at O'Hare International willrequire more than 50 permanent employees to respond to a 25 percentvolume increase year-over-year in 2020. The company expectsshipment volumes to remain high as businesses restock inventory toprepare for re-openings.
The new jobs to be filled in the coming weeks includepermanent full- and part-time opportunities in direct management,clearance and gateway operations, pick-up and delivery service, andramp and sorting operations throughout the U.S. Because of theongoing risk in spreading COVID-19, DHL will continue to offeroptions for virtual recruiting and hiring, including remoteinterviews and online training. Once hired, employees willphysically report to work at the designated locations.
While about 80 percent of the DHL Express U.S. employees workthe frontline, 20 percent have been eligible to work from homeduring the pandemic. To protect frontline employees and thosereturning to the office, DHL Express follows governmental healthguidelines for PPE such as masks and gloves, performs intense deepcleanings of facilities, informs its employees of new safetystandards, and has modified workspaces by staggering shift times toguarantee proper social distancing.