FedEx Finds If You Pay Them, They Will Come
The package-delivery giant was flooded with job applications after it offered better wages and benefits. Who could have guessed?
Wages are up, and so are shipping prices.
Photographer: Spencer Platt/Getty Images
FedEx Corp. has cracked the code on how to hire in today’s tight labor market: higher wages, better benefits and more flexibility. Who knew?
After offering those three things, the company received more than 111,000 job applications last week, the most in history and up from 52,000 in the week of May 8, Chief Operating Officer Raj Subramaniam said on Thursday afternoon after the package-delivery giant reported better-than-expected quarterly results. The benefits included increased paid time off and tuition reimbursement. The company has hired more than 60,000 frontline workers since mid-September. Higher wage rates and network disruptions tied to labor shortages resulted in $470 million in additional costs in the three months ended Nov. 30, but the company expects those cost pressures to moderate in the second half of its fiscal year.