UPS hiring for winter holiday rush holds steady above 100,000 United Parcel Service plans to hire more than 100,000 extra workers to help handle an increase in packages during the winter holiday season — similar to holiday hiring last year and in 2020. Gene J. Puskar | AP UPS plans to hire more than 100,000 workers to help handle the holiday rush this season, in line with its holiday hiring the past two years. Holiday season volumes usually start rising in October and remain high into January. While online shopping has slowed from the height of the pandemic, it’s still well above historic norms. UPS says it will have job openings for full- and part-time seasonal positions, primarily package handlers, drivers and driver helpers. UPS promotes seasonal jobs as positions that can lead to year-round employment. In recent years, according to UPS, roughly 35% of people hired for seasonal package-handling jobs land permanent positions. Its seasonal drivers start at $21 an hour, with tractor-trailer drivers making as much as $35 an hour. Package handlers’ starting wages range from $15 to $21 an hour.