Dive Brief:

• UPS said it plans to hire 40,000 new employees Friday, dubbing the Black Friday preparation "UPS Brown Friday."
• The company plans to hire 100,000 seasonal workers to meet holiday shipping demands, and it says the "one-day hiring blitz" is part of that effort. UPS is holding nearly 170 hiring fairs across the country Friday, and said it will be hiring thousands of candidates on the spot. Applicants who apply on Friday could be signed up for a seasonal role by Monday, UPS said.
• What's more, seasonal hires create a strong candidate pool for the employer. In the last three years, 35% of candidates who started off as seasonal employees went on to permanent positions after the holiday rush. In total, the company says more than 125,000 workers, about one-third of its workforce, started off as a seasonal hire.

Dive Insight:

With stronger than usual seasonal hiring needs this year, retailers, e-tailers and those in the shipping industry are looking to staff up quickly, to snag as much top talent as possible. The competition promises to be fierce, as some are increasing hourly rates to try to best their rivals. And for some, seasonal hiring has lost its "seasonal" quality entirely and has become a year-round endeavor.

The low unemployment rate isn’t helping, as businesses scramble to find ways to optimize recruitment processes with mobile apps and improved candidate experiences, even in the midst of the holiday crunch. Some are even turning to creative means — telework arrangements, voluntary benefits — to attract job seekers. 

But candidates still have the upper hand and employers are struggling to cope. Tales of "ghosting" haunt recruiters, and a recent survey revealed that candidates believe the practice is acceptable, with 40% saying it’s perfectly fine to accept an offer then vanish. For recruiters, that may mean overstaffing to compensate for some hires that won't report on day one.