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With Online Soaring, Radial Aims to Add 25,000 Seasonal Workers

As the COVID-19 pandemic continues to fuel online sales, Radial said it will add 25,000 seasonal employees to its workforce to support the “heightened fulfillment and customer care needs” of retailers and brands during the 2020 holiday shopping season.

With customer care, Radial, which is a Bpost Group company, said it is looking to have “50 to 70 percent of its customer care workforce work remotely/virtually this holiday season, which is over 2,500 associates nationwide.”

Radial said the demand for this seasonal workforce addition is driven by e-commerce demand this year that is “unprecedented.”

The company said its seasonal workforce will leverage “cutting-edge automation and technology to process online orders in fulfillment centers and address the key customer issues that drive sales and satisfaction working as agents with Radial’s customer care centers.”

Radial cited its own data revealing that 66 percent of shoppers plan to increase their online purchases during the 2020 holiday season, and said it is “prepared to help retailers deliver during this crucial time of year while keeping employee safety at the forefront.”

The company said it has made a “deep investment in industry-leading safety processes, technologies and automation” aimed at prioritizing health and safety for the company’s fulfillment and customer care workers.

The safety upgrades include implementation of automated temperature thermal screenings for its employees as well as visitors prior to entering each facility as well as making adjustments to “working layouts and technology enhancements to enable and enforce social distancing.”

Eric Wohl, chief human resources officer and senior vice president of Radial, said in response to the pandemic, the company is “deeply committed to evolving our work environment to keep our strong community values and people-first workplace intact, while ensuring every employee feels comfortable, safe and valued at their job.”

The company also said throughout the pandemic, it ramped up the use of robotics in fulfillment via Autonomous Mobile Robotics “to assist associates on picking, packing and shipping orders while complying with socially distanced headcount capacities and physically reducing teammate interaction.”

Radial said it views robotics as a “value-add in assisting associates” and noted it has found “that associates are twice as productive with robotics’ assistance, as they are able to work more efficiently and safely from an ergonomics perspective.”

The company said seasonal workers joining the company this year will have the “opportunity to jump-start a career in retail while working for top brands and retailers, such as Hibbett Sports, Payless, Cole Haan, Hunter Boots, The Children’s Place, French Toast, Ashley Stewart, Christopher & Banks and more.”

There’s also a chance to convert the seasonal job into a permanent one. Radial said it plans to offer “significant opportunities to convert to full-time positions this year and is actively accepting seasonal candidates from all backgrounds.”

“For local residents who worked in industries impacted by the pandemic such as retail storefronts, restaurants, hospitality, or airlines, there is great opportunity to switch career paths and leverage transferable skills within the fulfillment and customer care center setting,” the company said.

Wohl said working as a seasonal associate at Radial “comes with numerous benefits including learning new skills, competitive hourly wages, a variety of flexible work schedules and overtime and holiday pay.”

“But even more important during these challenging times,” Wohl said, “when you come to Radial, you are part of a culture and team that cares for its own like family. We are united by a common purpose to keep one another safe and maintain exceptional business operations in partnership with our clients in the communities where we all live and work.”

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