Messengers are already preparing for the Christmas quarantine: they look for hundreds of employees, they expand their network of ATMs | Deal

Since last week, when residents began preparing for a second quarantine, parcel companies have started to see the rising order curve again.

November and December are busy times for couriers and the normal year, but this time, when residents are handling gifts from home, package delivery services are forecasting a record year.

According to data from the parcel transport company DPD Lietuva, the number of parcels in Lithuania increases by 18% in November of each year. compared to the annual average, and in December – 40 percent.

“This year, these numbers could be another 30 percent higher due to the quarantine and the rise of e-mail. Commerce. Every year this Christmas period comes to an end, and with the growth of e-commerce, they are likely to decline. last minute purchases, because when ordering online, you need to calculate and how long the product will arrive. ” 15 minutes predicts Tomas Vaišvila, director of communications for DPD Lietuva.

However, other companies believe that the volume of courier work before Christmas will double or even triple.

Before Christmas, we forecast a double increase in orders, as the number of shipments increased by 40% last week, said Asta Raudonienė, Venipak’s marketing manager.

“Before Christmas, we forecast a double increase in orders, as shipments increased 40% last week,” he said. 15 minutes said Asta Raudonienė, Venipak’s marketing manager.

The Lithuanian post is waiting for an even larger number of packages. Norbertas Žioba, Director of the Company’s Sales and Marketing Department 15 minutes He stated that the Christmas period for Lithuanian mail is one of the most tense, as the number of items also doubles in the usual year. And this year, the situation is exceptional due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

“New habits of the population have been formed, and the quarantine has been announced again, it is likely that the Christmas period will lead to an even greater growth in the number of plots; we forecast that it can be up to 3 times higher than usual,” he commented the representative of Lietuvos paštas.

Will hire 30 percent. more employees

Businesses are preparing for the avalanches of pre-holiday ordering in advance.

The Omniva company, which operates one of the largest ATM networks in Lithuania, has announced that it will employ up to 215 new employees and is committed to taking care of additional premises to sort packages.

A. Raudonienė, Venipak’s Marketing Manager, reported that during this period the company will increase its team by 30 percent. The company will temporarily employ more than 100 employees: sorters and couriers.

The company will temporarily employ more than 100 employees: sorters and couriers.

The company currently has a total of 362 employees.

Temporal messengers also join

The company will also help residents who want to work in their spare time. The company has created the Venipak Drive app, where registered people can work as couriers in their spare time, delivering packages at a time convenient for them. Developed 5 years ago, the application works on the same principle as the Bolt application.

According to A.Raudonienė, every day around 30 permanent members of the Venipak drive app send shipments.

“During the quarantine, we had 120” drivers “in the spring. We think their number may grow similarly now, considering the new quarantine and the next. Black Friday, Cyber ​​Monday and Christmas “, – predicted A.Raudonienė.

Personnel and recruitment

Lietuvos Paštas and other parcel transport companies will hire additional employees.

“Every year in the pre-Christmas period, from 26 to 50 percent. We are increasing the number of couriers, we are hiring additional warehouse staff, but considering the number of quarantine starts, this may not be enough. year ”, says T.Vaišvila, representative of DPD Lietuva.

Remember that during the first three weeks of the pandemic, the number of emails from DPD Lietuva increased by 48%. – from 403 to 600. The company also developed almost 200 new courier routes, in addition to renting warehouse space, where new people also had to be hired.

“Therefore, during the week of Christmas, 500-550 couriers are likely to bring goods, packages and gifts to homes, offices or post offices,” predicts T. Vašvila.

During the week of Christmas, between 500 and 550 couriers are likely to deliver goods, packages and gifts to homes, offices or post offices, predicts T. Vaišvila.

Lietuvos Paštas uses the services of a staffing company and hires new staff on a fixed-term basis.

“Already more hands are needed at our new logistics center in Vilnius, where the automated distribution process has started to be implemented; while the pilot processes are underway, additional resources are needed during the transition period.” As the volume of packages increases, more hands will be needed to work in the post offices “, 15 minutes commented Inga Rinkevičienė, Head of the Organizational Development Department of the Lithuanian Post.

According to her, generally for the Christmas period, the company creates around 100 additional jobs.

It will also work on weekends, it will expand the network of post offices.

Venipak will extend working hours before the holidays. To manage traffic, couriers will deliver packages that were not delivered during business hours and during the week, both at night and on Saturdays.

To face the intense Christmas period this year, like never before, and avoid delays in the merchandise, the parcel companies are also expanding their network of post offices and collection points.

Venipak has installed 286 collection points in various stores and gas stations, so it plans to increase this number to 300. And if there are not enough points, it intends to install mobile points, which it used during the first quarantine.

“The establishment of mobile points has paid off. Their principle is to approach our car with many packages, we send messages to customers and they come to collect them. During the first quarantine, the most popular mobile collection point was in Pilaitė”, said A. Raudonienė.

T.Vaišvila also predicts that in the context of quarantine, pandemic and holidays, the number of contactless sending and receiving locations will increase significantly, as DPD will build around 40 new DPD postal machines before Christmas. Installed on October 20.

Meanwhile, Omniva urges residents to keep in mind that the run-up to Christmas this year will be exclusive, and those wishing to deliver their packages before Christmas are urged to place them at ATMs by December 13. .