For Swiss Post and its employees, the pre-Christmas period means stress above all. In Saxony-Anhalt she sees herself well prepared for the most strenuous time of the year.
Magdeburg (dpa/sa) - Deutsche Post is already feeling the first signs of the upcoming busy working hours around Christmas. "As early as mid-October, the volume of shipments increases continuously until shortly before Christmas Eve," said a spokeswoman for the post office of the German Press Agency. The Christmas season is traditionally one of the most demanding and busy times of the year for postal workers.
Deutsche Post wants to honor this and will pay its employees a Christmas bonus in November in the amount of an average gross monthly wage, the spokeswoman said. In addition, new staff have been recruited. According to the spokeswoman, Saxony-Anhalt was able to recruit the required number of new employees for the Christmas business. This applies to letter and parcel delivery as well as to the two letter centers in Hohenthurm near Halle, in Osterweddingen near Magdeburg and in the DHL parcel center in Osterweddingen.
By mid-November at the latest, the Post is expecting a significant increase in parcels and letters containing goods, said the spokeswoman. Black Friday, Cyber Monday and Christmas saw orders for goods skyrocket.
Specifically, the company calculates a nationwide increase in parcel volumes of 70 percent in November and December compared to September. On individual peak days before Christmas Eve, it could be up to 11 million packages. According to the Post, it employs more than 10,000 temporary workers nationwide.
Swiss Post recommends that customers in Germany hand in their parcels to a branch or Packstation by December 20 at the latest so that they arrive in time for Christmas Eve. December 22 is the latest possible posting date for letters and postcards.
