The company will also continue its weekend deliveries
Australia Post has announced that they will hire over 4,000 new workers as preparation for what it described as the "biggest Christmas ever" gets underway.
"We’ll be hiring more than 4,000 new team members across the country, helping process at our sorting facilities, helping customers online and on the phone, and out delivering for Australians," said Nicole Sheffield, Australia Post's executive general manager, community, and consumer.
The mail delivery service will open 3,500 additional delivery roles, including 350 in regional areas, according to the statement. The open positions will include 1,000 drivers, 2,100 staff to help sort out parcels, and additional customer support roles based in Victoria and Queensland.
The massive job surge can be attributed the soaring number of deliveries, thanks to lockdowns and a shift to online shopping.
"Our posties and drivers have been out there since March last year often delivering on most days like it's Christmas, and we know that Australians are relying on us more than ever and will continue to in the coming months, which is why we're putting some key measures in place to be ready for our biggest Christmas ever," Sheffield said.
According to the official, the hiring blitz is one of the measures the mail service has implemented to ensure that deliveries arrive on time to waiting recipients. A similar move took place last year where the Australia Post also hired 600 casual workers to meet delivery demand.
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Meanwhile, the company has also opened pop-up sites to help process mail and will keep its weekend deliveries in place until the end of the year to hand over up to half a million parcels every weekend until Christmas.
"We’ve introduced a series of measures to keep our people and customers safe, so while it means there might be some slight delays, Australians should know we’re working harder than ever to keep delivering their parcels safely."
7-Eleven partnership
Australia Post also unveiled a new partnership with 7-Eleven Australia to give customers more options on where to pick up their parcels.
The partnership opens over 200 7-Eleven stores where 7-Eleven ParcelMate lockers are installed and can be accessed 24/7. Another 300 more stores will be added for Australia Post deliveries by the end of the year, according to a media release.
"This partnership with 7-Eleven gives our customers greater choice on the most convenient way to collect what they've bought, at the times and places that suit them, which is why expanding our locker network into 7-Eleven stores just makes sense," said Sheffield in a statement.
The new measures come amid surging parcel deliveries due to the shift in online shopping because of COVID-19 lockdowns. In the 2020-21 financial year, Australia Post revealed that more than nine million Australians shopped online, equivalent to a nearly 32% year-on-year growth.