ROCKFORD — UPS will add twice as many part-time workers this year during its annual hiring push, reflecting a $25 million expansion done at the sorting hub this summer and adding momentum to the region’s burgeoning logistics industry.
UPS plans to hire about 1,000 part-time package handlers between now and Dec. 1 as it gears up for a busier-than-ever Christmas rush, said Kevin Dulian, employment supervisor. About 700 will be laid off after the season ends, but 300 will be retained.
From today through the end of December, cargo volume will increase 150 percent, he said.
“There’s a window where we have to get the planes in there and loaded and out. It’s not like we’re getting more time, so we need more people to do it,” Dulian said. “It’s very significant. I don’t think we’ve ever had this much increased volume during Christmas.”
The plant has about 1,000 workers, Dulian said. Last year, the company added about 450 workers for the end-of-the-year rush.
In May, UPS announced a $25 million expansion intended to boost the hub’s capacity from 82,000 packages an hour to 121,000 packages an hour. The build-up in Rockford comes as the company expects growth overall in its package volumes this season.
The new handlers will unload, sort and load next-day air packages for about two dozen planes a night at the hub at Chicago/Rockford International Airport. The night shifts, which start at staggered times from 10:30 p.m. to 1 a.m., last about three hours; less than 200 employees at the hub work full time. All package handlers are members of the Teamsters and start at $8.50 an hour.
The new employees will bring UPS’ local work force to 2,000 people during its peak season. The 300 permanent part-time workers will be hired before the end of September, and all applications will be taken online instead of the local employment office, Dulian said.
The 500,000-square-foot UPS hub was built in 1994, but about a decade elapsed before logistics — the business of shipping, storing and distributing goods — really took a foothold in the Rock River Valley.
The potential for making logistics a major part of the regional economy is why the Rockford Area Economic Development Council requested an analysis of the industry. The $30,000 study, paid for by Winnebago County and conducted by Northern Illinois University, examined how the county compares with six other Midwestern areas also vying for companies within the logistics industry.
The analysis showed that Winnebago County’s strengths include a location that is accessible to markets and transportation systems; a quality labor pool that is prepared and ready to work; and a work force that is highly productive when compared with workers in other areas.
Over the past two years, there have been more than a dozen major logistics projects in the region. Among them:
Staples, the nation’s largest office-products company, announced in September that it would build a $14 million, 400,000-square-foot distribution center in Beloit. The company expects to hire as many as 200 employees. The building is under construction and is expected to be completed this fall.
Lowe’s, the nation’s second-largest home-improvement retailer, announced in September that it would construct a $100 million, 1.4 million-square-foot distribution center in southwest Rockford. The company expects to employ 500 employees when the site opens in 2007.
In July, manufacturer Clark Steel Framing Systems started operations in Rochelle. The company is leasing 208,000 square feet of a $9 million, 508,000-square-foot industrial building that was built by DP Partners last year. Clark announced that the plant would have as many as 50 employees. Rochelle is home to an essential part of the logistics industry, Union Pacific’s truck and train hub.
Mega-retailer Target announced in late 2004 that it would build a $110 million, 1.5 million-square-foot distribution center in DeKalb. That center is under construction and could be opened this year. Initially, the company expects to add 500 jobs with as many as 500 more workers added in the next three years.
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