Royal Mail to recruit 1,400 season staff in Scotland over Christmas

Royal Mail has announced that around 33,000 temporary jobs will be available over the festive period across the UK – 10,000 more than its usual season average.

Royal Mail to employ over 33,000 seasonal staff across the UK.

The postal service usually employs between 15,000 and 23,000 extra staff members from October to January to help sort through the increased volume of parcels, cards and

letters around the Christmas period.

Royal Mail has said that such a high volume of temporary workers is needed this year as a direct result of the coronavirus pandemic.

The pandemic saw a dramatic increase in the number of people shopping online for everything from groceries to clothes and the elevated parcel numbers are expected to continue

over the festive period as people across the UK start their annual Christmas shopping.

Roughly 1,400 of the seasonal jobs will be available in Scotland, with over 13,000 in England, 700 in Wales and 500 in Northern Ireland.

Additional workers will also be required for Royal Mail’s new covid-19 testing kit collection team.

The seasonal workers will support over 115,000 permanent postmen and women who sort and deliver the mail all year round.

Royal Mail chief HR officer, Sally Ashford, said: "During these unprecedented times we believe it is critical that Royal Mail continues to deliver.

"We want to do our best to deliver Christmas for our customers and support the effort on the pandemic.

"This helps the whole country to celebrate and stay safe during these difficult times."

Royal Mail has been recruiting festive temporary workers since the Second World War.

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