Newly Hired UPS Workers Hope For Full-Time Employment
CHICAGO (CBS) - To say UPS is very busy this holiday season would be an understatement. On December 22nd alone, the company will deliver 24 million packages on what they call their peak day.
To accomplish that feat, they've hired extra workers. Many of them are hoping their part-time employment becomes full-time. CBS 2's Suzanne Le Mignot reports.
Part-time UPS Supervisor Juan Alonso says he feels very grateful in this economy to have a job.
"I love being here every day I come in," he said.
UPS starts their holiday hiring for part-time seasonal workers in August. That's when Juan Alonso and Darletta Scruggs were hired.
Part-time UPS Supervisor Darletta Scruggs says the best Christmas present for her would be full-time employment.
"I could see myself going further in this company," said Scruggs. "There's a lot of ways that you can progress. There's plenty opportunities here to grow, and I definitely could see myself doing it."
Both Scruggs and Alonso have been promoted from part-time package handlers to part-time supervisors since they were hired in August.
Nationwide, UPS has hired 50,000 part-time workers for the holiday season. Five hundred of them are at the UPS Hodgkins facility.
When asked how different it is from August when he started to December, Scruggs said, "It's a lot different. A lot, lot different. A whole lot more packages. Today, we ran almost two million packages."
Scruggs and Alonso plan to attend college while working for UPS part-time. The company will pay $4,000 of their tuition each year.
"I see myself just keep climbing the ladder in this company," said Alonso. "The further I go, the further the possibilities are for me in the future."
In January and February, UPS will be hiring again. To apply for UPS careers, click here.
