Royal Mail to recruit 16,000 temporary workers ahead of Christmas

Royal Mail is set to bring in 16,000 temporary staff ahead of the Christmas rush.

Roles are up for grabs at two parcel hubs, five seasonal parcel sort centres, and 37 mail centres nationwide - offering a range of shift patterns.

Local delivery offices around the UK are also opening positions for delivery and collection jobs.

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The company’s two parcel hubs, based in Daventry and Warrington, will be hiring more than 2,000 additional staff as they expect 1.7 million parcels a day to be processed across both sites.

Around the equivalent space of 20 football pitches has been added to accommodate the influx of parcels across the five seasonal sort centres located in Atherstone, Milton Keynes, Northampton, Daventry, and Greenford, London.

These temporary hires will help manage increased online shopping deliveries before they move out to the company's 1,200 delivery offices.

Contract durations will span from late October to early January 2025, spanning key sales periods such as Black Friday and Cyber Monday.

Parcelforce Worldwide is also on the lookout for additional drivers and indoor workforce members.

Ahead of the Christmas peak, nearly 4,000 new vehicles including vans, trucks, and trailers are joining Royal Mails fleet.

In a statement underscoring the commitment to the seasonal effort, Alistair Cochrane, Royal Mail's chief operating officer, commented: "Every year we pull out all the stops to deliver Christmas for our customers."

"It's our busiest time of year and we plan all year round to help ensure we deliver the best possible service for UK consumers and businesses."

"We are continuing to make a substantial commitment in additional resources including the recruitment of thousands of temporary workers to handle the festive mailbag and the growing market of online Christmas shopping."