Delivery firms step up hiring ahead of annual online sale

Local delivery companies are recruiting new couriers to avoid breakdowns in service following the upcoming annual sale sponsored by two of the country's most popular online shopping sites, company representatives told the Global Times Monday.

The hiring shows that the delivery companies are bolstering their staff after customers filed numerous complaints about missing, late or damaged packages during last year's sale.

Taobao and Tmall sponsor a sale every year on November 11 that offers many items at discounts of up to 50 percent. The sale has made the day one of the busiest online shopping days of the year.

More than 22 million packages were ordered from the two websites on November 11, 2011, almost triple the average number of orders on an ordinary day, according to the two websites.

This year, nine delivery companies, including ZTO, YTO and STO, three of the leading Shanghai-based firms, have partnered with Taobao and Tmall to share information so that the sites' vendors will be warned if a delivery company has become overcommitted, said Sheng Enhua, a press officer with Tmall.

A ZTO manager surnamed Ren said that all of the delivery companies are competing to hire more hands.　

According to the IT Times, ZTO has hired 4,000 temporary couriers to prepare for the sale.

YTO is also looking to take on more couriers, said Lin Guibin, an employee who is in charge of recruitment at a YTO branch in Zhabei district.

"We have 50 couriers at this branch. It would be better if we recruited another 20. The sale is going to put a lot of pressure on our current couriers. There were delays during the sale last year," Lin told the Global Times.

A recruitment advertisement that Lin posted online said that a YTO courier could earn up to 8,000 yuan ($1,279) a month. "The salary depends on how many packages a courier can deliver. In a busy month, a courier can earn 7,000 to 8,000 yuan," Lin said.

Even with the hiring, Tmall cannot promise there won't be delays or other delivery problems this year, Sheng said.

"Shanghai is among the major cities prone to having service congestion during the sale. Many shop owners are based in Shanghai, so many packages are sent out from the city," he added.

The shopping websites will also allow their vendors to spend up to seven days preparing packages for delivery. Under normal circumstances, the websites require vendors to ships their products no more than three days after an order is placed.

"The change will give the delivery companies more time to cope with congestion," Sheng said.