Package deals

One day, Ed Blain hopes to deliver sermons from the pulpit. This holiday season, he's happy to help sort packages.

Blain lives in Brookline and studies divinity at Holy Cross Greek Orthodox School of Theology. His theology class meets at 9 a.m. By that time, Blain has already put in a five-hour shift at UPS, sorting and handling 8,000 packages. He started three weeks ago as a seasonal loader and recently was promoted to part-time supervisor. In addition to his paycheck, he and other workers who log at least 225 hours receive medical, dental, and vision benefits.

"I took the job for a couple of reasons," said Blain, 41. "Number one, the pay; number two, the benefits; and number three, the tuition reimbursement."

Delivery services throughout the country are bulking up this holiday season as never before, offering competitive pay and, in some cases, benefits for temporary work. A recovering economy, a continuing surge in the popularity of online buying, and a longer holiday shopping season have UPS, FedEx, and the US Postal Service hiring larger numbers of seasonal workers.

UPS will hire 70,000 seasonal workers this year, up from 50,000 in 2003; FedEx is adding 7,000 workers this season, up from 2,500 last year; and the US Postal Service has contracted with Manpower Inc. to add 3,900, up from 2,000 last year.

"The Internet reduces our letter mail," said Bob Cannon, a US Postal Service spokesman, "but it increases our packages."

At UPS, which expects more than 91 million online package tracking requests Christmas week alone, recruiters are hiring "preloaders" to load trucks sequentially by street order and "local sorters" to unload the packages that drivers pick up. UPS spokesman William Simmons said preloaders earn about $9.50 per hour, local sorters make $8.50 per hour, drivers' helpers earn $9.50 and drivers' earnings range from about $18 to $25.32 per hour, depending on seniority.

For the entire season, UPS expects to deliver 340 million packages nationwide, up from 300 million last year.

"Online shopping will definitely have an impact on our hiring," said spokeswoman Christine McManus. "It is one of the factors that's contributing to the increase in temporary workers this year, but we're also hiring more because there are two more days before Thanksgiving and Christmas this year. The season is longer."

Graham Mudd, a senior analyst at comScore Networks Inc., is predicting that $15.5 billion will be spent online this season compared to $12.3 billion the same period last year. EMarketer, a research firm that analyzes Internet data, is predicting online sales of $22.3 billion in the fourth quarter, a 27.6 percent increase over 2003.

While that's just a tiny fraction of the billions in total retail sales, it's providing steady work to many people who have had difficulty finding a job and, for workers at UPS and the postal service, health benefits. Most seasonal jobs do not offer medical coverage. For example, Filene's department stores plans to hire seasonal employees, but they won't receive healthcare benefits, said spokeswoman Robin Reibel.

At the US Postal Service, seasonal workers are earning $10 to $15 per hour and they're getting an extra $2.36 per hour to help defray the cost of medical coverage, said Manpower public relations specialist Lisa Tagliapietria. Package handlers hired through Manpower are eligible for dental coverage, the firm's stock plan, and its 401(k) plan after they've received their first paycheck.

FedEx pays package handlers $11 per hour, and drivers earn $100 per day. Healthcare for seasonal workers is not available. A spokesman said many of the firm's seasonal workers have full-time jobs elsewhere and are looking for work with flexible hours to supplement their regular income.

Larry Shand, 46, of Randolph, found work at the UPS plant in Norwood in October after moving to Boston from Atlanta several weeks ago. A civil engineer who also holds an MBA degree, Shand worked at a power plant in Atlanta prior to moving. Originally from Massachusetts, he expected to find new work in his field when he returned but soon realized that few companies were hiring despite reports of an improved economy.

So, for the past five weeks, Shand has been working from 4 a.m. to 8:30 a.m. as a preloader, stacking hundreds of packages per hour in the company's brown trucks. Like Blain, he was attracted to the job because it offers part-time workers health benefits.

"I came on during the season, and I am hoping to be kept on," said Shand, who wants to land full-time work in the company's industrial engineering division.

Diane E. Lewis can be reached at dlewis@globe.com.