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Postal Service Hiring 1,000 In Bay Area Amid Rise In Deliveries Due To Coronavirus

SAN FRANCISCO (CBS SF) – The U.S. Postal Service says it needs to hire as many as 1,000 workers in the Bay Area as the economic effects of the novel coronavirus pandemic continue to ripple across the region.

The hiring will focus on entry-level positions, mostly in San Francisco and San Jose, in order to help with the massive increase in package volume.

"The demand for package delivery is starting to reach Christmastime volume and we need help delivering and moving the mail as never before," Postal Service spokesman Augustine Ruiz said.

"Almost all of it is online purchasing," Ruiz said. "The demand for home delivery is up so much we have the opportunity for some people who need jobs, who have lost their jobs, so this would be a good time to come and start a career with the postal service."

Ruiz said the Postal Service is doing everything it can to protect employees from exposure to the virus, including keeping everything as sanitized as possible at its facilities and providing guidance for postal carriers on how to maintain social distance while delivering the mail.

The entry-level job openings include postal carriers, mail processing positions, mechanics, custodians, tractor trailer operators and automated machinery repair specialists.

More information and applications can be found at https://about.usps.com/careers/.

Other companies looking to hire workers amid the rising demand for deliveries include San Francisco-based grocery delivery startup Instacart, which is seeking to hire 300,000 people across North America. Meanwhile, Safeway is seeking to hire 2,000 people in Northern California, Western Nevada and Hawaii, both in-store employees and delivery workers.

© Copyright 2020 CBS Broadcasting Inc. and Bay City News Service. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

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