Nearly 400 temporary workers are set to be employed by the Royal Mail at an Essex mail centre in order to deliver packages over Christmas this year. Royal Mail has announced a huge recruitment drive of 370 temporary staff at the Chelmsford Mail Centre to run from late October to early January 2024.
The temporary workers will help sort the Christmas post and the increasing amount of online Christmas shopping at the centre located on Winsford Way. The period for the additional temporary work includes Black Friday and Cyber Monday but will be at its peak in December.
Royal Mail has said there will be a variety of shifts available and there is no previous experience required. Christmas is Royal Mail’s busiest period, with around double the normal number of parcels and stamped letters processed. In its drive to deliver Christmas to its customers, the company has increased its fleet with an additional 6,800 vehicles across the group and hired more than 1,000 road haulage contractors to transport the festive mail and parcels across the country.
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A total 176,500 sqm of extra temporary space – equivalent to 16 football pitches – has been created across five other seasonal parcel sort centres located in Atherstone, Milton Keynes, Northampton, Daventry, and Greenford in London. The temporary workers in Chelmsford form part of 8,000 sorting roles being dedicated across England.
Grant McPherson, Chief Operating Officer Royal Mail said: “We are pulling out all the stops to deliver Christmas for our customers. It’s our busiest time of the year and we know how important it is for people that we deliver letters and parcels on time. By planning ahead and hiring more people, vans and trucks, we are well-prepared to handle the expected increased festive mail and parcels and deliver the high standards of service our customers expect from Royal Mail.”
Royal Mail has set up a dedicated website for people to apply for the Christmas positions, christmasrecruitment.royalmailgroup.com/ or by emailing Christmas_helpline@royalmail.com or by calling the automated helpline on 0345 600 1785.